By Pavlos Zafiropoulos
Since 2008 many have questioned whether in the long tem Greece has a future in the eurozone given its finances. However there is a more fundamental problem that has led some to question whether in the longer term Greece has a future at all: its demographics. And efforts to fix the former are coming at the expense of the latter.
The worsening of Greece’s demographics under austerity was highlighted recently by Nikos Kostandaras, managing editor of the Kathimerini newspaper, in an editorial in the New York Times.
As Mr Konstandaras pointed out the statistics are indeed troubling. Greece has long suffered with an aging population but six years of austerity have significantly exacerbated problematic trends. Fertility rates are dropping as young couples, affected by unemployment and falling incomes, are postponing having children. 2011 became the first year in which deaths exceeded births (by 4,671). According to the statistical service of the European Union this figure jumped to 16,300 in 2012 with net migration causing Greece’s population to drop by another 44,200.
According to demographers a population requires a fertility rate of 2.1 to replenish the previous generation. In Greece, according to the latest figures, the rate has dropped to 1.4 and that is based on data from 2011 with many experts believing that the situation is even worse today.
And austerity policies, ostensibly designed to help Greece ‘get back on its feet’ are only making the problem worse. Thanks to a mentality of ‘cut the budget no matter the cost’ the state, rather than providing incentives for couples to have children seems to be actively discouraging it, cutting basic health services for uninsured pregnant women and children.
The very real toll of the cuts was highlighted by the Greek branch of Doctors of the World (MDM) in a recent press conference called by the charity, as reported by business daily Imerisia. “These cuts have very serious consequences for the health and economy of our society,” the group’s president Anna Maili said. “A pregnant woman, by her very nature, just as a child should have free access to the health system.”
Uninsured pregnant women are now expected to cover the full cost of health checks during pregnancy. Unsurprisingly with general unemployment at 27.4% (and for women 31.4%) many cannot afford to do so. As a result women are having fewer prenatal scans and more problems are going undetected. According to the organisation, since 2008 there has been an increase in the number of stillbirths that is directly related to the economic crisis.
That the cuts in basic health spending amount to gaining a short-term financial solution at the price of a long-term problem is even clearer when it comes to child vaccinations. State programs to vaccinate poor and uninsured children have been discontinued. Without state aid many parents cannot afford to vaccinate their children which can cost hundreds of euros. As a result more and more children are reaching 2 and 3 years of age without a single vaccination.
According to the charity this amounts to a ‘ticking timebomb’. For now unvaccinated children are still protected from the ‘herd’ immunity granted by the immunization of previous generations. However if the situation continues epidemics of deadly childhood diseases become increasingly likely. Christos Kostalos, a volunteer neonatal physician with MDM said, “Despite the high cost of a vaccination program, the final cost is much lower for public health and so it must be covered.”
A cynic might say that if someone cannot afford to vaccinate their child then they shouldn’t have children at all. The answer to that is that many in Greece are indeed following that advice. And that is exactly the problem.