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Over the last few years throughout Northern Greece we have seen the closure of camps near Thessaloniki, the end of accommodations programmes such as Estia II, and the development of several new isolated camps.

The lack of transportation combined with a lack of permanent doctors has left huge gaps in medical support for camp residents.

MedEqualiTeam is working in Northern Greece to provide access to basic medical care to people on the move and vulnerable groups facing barriers to accessing medical care.

Greece Context

The summer of 2015 saw an unprecedented number of people displaced by conflict arrive in the EU. With 85% entering the EU through Greece, Thessaloniki became an important area on the route, with its proximity to both Turkey and the Balkans.

Until December 2022 many people in Thessaloniki were housed under the ESTIA II (Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation) programme, funded by the UNHCR, with a programme designed to provide to vulnerable asylum seekers urban accommodation, access to education, health care, improve independence and promote integration into Greek society.

At the end of 2022, the government abruptly announced the closure of the programme, citing plenty of space in camps and processing facilities throughout Greece. Approximately 10, 000 people were evicted from their homes, either forced into new controlled and remote camps or left without the assistance to find their own accomodation increasing asylum seekers and refugees living in the streets of Thessaloniki.

Autumn 2023 saw a rise of people on the move in Northern Greece, a result of several organised transfers from camps in the islands such as Samos or Lesvos.

The Northern Greece Project:

Our project in Northern Greece is providing medical support through a health clinic in Thessaloniki, a mobile unit operating in community centers accessible from isolated camps, and training and health education sessions for NGOs and community members to improve population health.

The Clinic in Thessaloniki

In partnership with WAVE Thessaloniki, Med'EqualiTeam started to provide free medical care in December 2023.

Set up in 2018 to help bridge the gap in services available to those undocumented, WAVE created a Social Center at the heart of Thessaloniki. They aim to provide basic needs for people on the move and for anyone for whom social services are unavailable. WAVE provides food, clothing and access to their community center.

Located in WAVE community space, we offer basic medical care via our team of a doctor, nurse and translator to people on the move and those unable to access health services.

The mobile unit

People living in camps, whether documented or undocumented, are often unable to access adequate healthcare due to the isolation of the camps, the irregular presence of medical staff and barriers to access including the lack of provided translators and finances to travel into Thessaloniki for specialists.

To reach these individuals and families, Med'EqualiTeam comes to them!

By working directly in community centres of NGOs located near the camps in northern Greece, we provide our services to remote areas.

We currently operate in Lagadikia and continue to develop relationships with actors in the area to identify needs and set up new clinics for our mobile unit.

Clinic in Lagadikia

In partnership with IHA NGO based in their community centre in Lagadikia village, a short distance from the nearby camp, we host a bi-weekly medical clinic.

IHA community centre is a space for learning, cultural exchange and building community, and a place where people know they will always be welcomed. The centre offers daily English, Greek and German Classes, an Information Centre, and an accessible community space including women's and Child Friendly Space.

Here, we offer basic medical care via our team of a doctor, nurse and translator to communities living in Lagadikia camp.

Medical conditions treated in our clinics:

We receive between 30 and 50 patients per week, with a constant increase of this number since we started.

The medical needs and demographics of our patients vary regularly according to the population. We see both adults and children, and we are able to offer basic medical care including antibiotic treatment and wound care, which can be essential in improving health outcomes and preventing worsening health in vulnerable populations.

The most common medical complaints are usually respiratory infections, skin diseases including scabies, musculoskeletal conditions and mental health concerns. The graph below shows the main categories of diseases we see:

We work hard to ensure we are developing our understanding of other NGO accessible across Northern Greece so we can offer our patients the best information and access to other services.

Training and health education:

One of the most important aspects of healthcare is health promotion, especially for vulnerable populations who face barriers to health access and education.

We offer health education sessions to communities in NGOs across and around Thessaloniki, topics in these sessions include; first aid; dental hygiene and healthy lifestyle behaviours; puberty and body change; pregnancy health; menopause and ageing and mental health and wellbeing.

These sessions are a great opportunity for us to hold space to have conversations with the community, answer questions, build trust and learn from the community about health and wellbeing needs.

We also offer free first aid training to NGOs working in Northern Greece to volunteers and employees to increase skills and confidence in providing emergency first aid to better support their service users.

If you are interested in a first aid training or health education sessions for NGO and communities, please get in touch at thessaloniki.info@medequali.team

The Team

Our team is composed of one field coordinator and one medical coordinator, our dedicated medical volunteers (usually 2 doctors and 1 nurse) and our essential local translators, in order to provide the best care for our patients.

Interested in being a part of our team? Check out volunteer page!