Medical associations in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace oppose changes affecting doctors’ self-governance

The associations emphasized that the Panhellenic Medical Association, as a public-law legal entity and the highest institutional body representing the medical community in Greece, has an administration democratically elected by doctors nationwide.

They argued that the principle of self-governance is a fundamental guarantee for the association’s independent operation and its ability to fulfill its institutional responsibilities. According to the statement, any legal regulation allowing political control over the administration of the association would represent a serious institutional decline.

The medical associations stressed that supervision by the Ministry of Health should not become interference in the democratic functioning of the country’s largest scientific and professional medical body.

"The administration of the Panhellenic Medical Association belongs exclusively to the elected representatives of the medical community," the statement said, adding that the independence of scientific associations is essential for institutional credibility, transparency and the protection of public interest.

The associations called on Greece’s Minister of Health to withdraw any provisions affecting the self-governing status of the Panhellenic Medical Association and to safeguard its institutional independence.

They concluded that respecting the autonomy of the Panhellenic Medical Association is equivalent to respecting the entire medical community.