The Social
Solidarity Clinic in Ilion is a collectively organized attempt of
solidarity and action as far as health and
viability affairs are concerned. In the
Open Social Space of Ilion we have established and we
have been operating the Social Solidarity
Clinic since last spring.
The space that was
given to us by solidarity supporters is located in a central spot of
Ilion, facing the building of OTE (state telecommunication agency),
on the 2nd
floor of the building located at 32 Idomeneos Street. There we have
established this clinic that grants relief
and medical health to anyone in need of it.
These
days the clinic is open every Monday and Wednesday and any other day
in case of emergency. There are 15 doctors of various specialties, 3
nurses and 1 physiotherapist voluntarily
available with the aid of supporters and organizations of the area.
We also founded the
Social Pharmacy which, with the work of all
of us and especially of some pharmacists, gives our doctors the
opportunity to grant medication FREE OF CHARGE to all these people
unable to afford it, either insured or not.
We decided to give
together the battle for the right in life against every government
that tries to destroy life and hope.
The idea and the
need for the establishment of the clinic came up during the IKA
(state insurance agency) doctors’ demonstration (November 2013 to
March 2014). It was the time when the government of Samaras and
Venizelos, implementers of the memorandum forced by the EU, fired
3000 out of 5500 doctors of IKA triggering a huge humanitarian and
healthcare crisis.
Doctors, nurses,
insured and uninsured solidarity supporters and various organizations
of the area, who fought against this disaster, decided not to accept
the situation and to move on to the establishment of the Social
Clinic which will grant its services FREE OF CHARGE to anyone
–worker, unemployed, refugee, immigrant, retired, young person- in
need.
On January 2015,
following the overturn of the Samaras-Venizelos government, the
government of Tsipras was elected but again fouled the people’s
expectations fast. Those expecting an improvement were let down as
the circumstances kept on worsening. Our expectations were not based
on the government but on the people’s struggle and therefore we
–workers, unemployed, doctors, nurses- self-organized and with the
aid of combatants
and organizations of the Ilion area we took action and fulfilled the
promise we had given to never stop fighting.
The Clinic is run
independently and autonomously without any cooperations with the
state or the local authorities and agencies. We do not accept any
help by them since we do not want any relations with them who are
connected to the wretchedness of our life. We fight to get rid of
them.
We fight for a
national healthcare system which will grant its services to EVERYONE
and FREE OF CHARGE.