Bambis Karathanos, Pharmacist and Special Advisor to the Ministry of Health, is not a “passerby” from the political scene of Western Athens. Born and raised in its neighbourhoods, he knows first-hand the challenges, but also the great prospects of the region. In an all-encompassing interview with Greece 24, Mr. Karathanos talks about his decision to put himself back at the disposal of the citizens and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, analyzes the strategic plan for the upgrading of the western suburbs and explains how major health reforms, such as the Pharmaceutical Innovation Fund, are changing the daily lives of patients.
In the 2023 elections you were a New Democracy candidate for MP in West Athens, what prompted you to run? Are you thinking of running again? Because you are very active.
M.K. : In fact, in the last elections I was a candidate for the New Republic in the very difficult constituency of Western Athens.
What initially prompted me is that it is the place where I grew up, live, work, raised my children, it is the place where I “hurt”, I know Western Athens, the problems but most of all the people. We are, fortunately still today, neighborhoods united, with great support and caring for each other. So I can tell you with certainty that my first thought was because I wanted and want to give back to my place.
This answers your second part of the question, i.e. whether I would come back. Our President, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has the first and last word on this, but what is certain is that I want to and it is something which, as you said, is evident from my great mobility in the region, as I do not lose contact with the citizens for a moment and I am interested in what concerns them.
After all, West Athens is an area with a strong social footprint, but also with great inequalities, and my decision to stand as a candidate has to do with this need to reduce these inequalities in practice. This is of course helped by the New Democracy’s policy so far, which emphasizes growth by increasing investment, reducing unemployment, improving infrastructure, granting benefits and much more.
What are the key interventions needed in West Athens?
M.K. : West Athens as I said before has peculiarities and great social inequalities , there are areas upgraded with high living standards and there are areas that are still behind compared to others, in general we are popular areas where our people struggle for a living, decent people who toil day and night for their families. So it is imperative and we need a targeted urban upgrading plan like the one presented by our Regional Governor Nikos Hardalias, a “green” transformation that includes, 77 million. 77 million euros which have been assigned by the Region to the ASDA for the implementation of the Western Athens OSE (NSRF), more than 102 million euros additional resources for social cohesion projects in the 9 municipalities of the ASDA (including the municipalities of Western Athens), 43 million euros for green space upgrading interventions (including Tritsis Park), etc.
What West Athens needs in addition is support for small and medium-sized entrepreneurship, more health and social care structures , but even on these there is a plan in place. The New Republic and the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as you have understood from the beginning of its term of office, does not speak in empty words but in deeds and interventions that change the daily life and the lives of people for the better.
But, Mr. Karathanos, accuracy remains and is the main problem for many households. What do you suggest?
M.K. : This is a great truth, we all know and experience it every day. But do not forget that in just five years this Government has been faced with many events that needed special treatment and were of global proportions. Let’s remember, the pandemic that deregulated us at all levels (economic, psychological, social), also the war in Ukraine which was a big blow to our economy, now the war in the Middle East whose effects have begun to take on global dimensions, all the examples I can give you all have a common denominator, they put the economy and energy, with all that this entails afterwards. So what do we as a government do?
We address accuracy with comparable axes:
- Income growth, with a gradual increase in the minimum wage and a reduction in the tax burden.
- Permanent tax cuts, such as reducing social security contributions and removing burdens that squeeze the middle class.
- Controls on the market to tackle obscenity.
- Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises with programmes such as, for example, “Produce in Greece”
.
Our goal is to substantially boost disposable income not temporarily, but on a permanent basis.
Recently we saw the new Drug Innovation Fund, what does it mean in practice?
M.K. : Thank you very much for the question as I am a Special Adviser to the Ministry of Health on Pharmaceutical Policy and in the past I have been in the same position before, so you understand that this is an area of great interest to me and because I am a Pharmacist I am best placed to answer it.
So I say to you, the new Drug Innovation Fund is a great reform with a clear and unambiguous goal, to give people access to innovative treatments faster and more equitably, away from the rigidities of the past.
But in practice, let me tell you that the Drug Innovation Fund creates a stable funding mechanism for new drugs, reduces delays in patient access, and enhances the sustainability of the public health system.
So consider that for areas like West Athens, where public health is something we are very concerned about, as until recently we have admittedly been lagging behind, because we have to say the negative things, we are not going to hide behind our finger, we are not perfect but we are working on improving the quality of the daily life of citizens continuously and we aim to reduce the pathologies that prevailed all the previous years with governments that destabilised our country, so such policies as the Pharmaceutical Innovation Fund have a direct positive impact on the daily life of citizens.
How do you respond to the criticism of lack of trust in the political system?
M.K. : Trust is slowly being earned and it only comes back with the results that people see that we have and year by year they trust us more and more. Missteps will always be here but we are here to minimize them when the citizen sees:
- better services,
- faster state,
- consistency
- patriotic policy on national issues
- accepted by European partners
- real improvement in the lives of citizens
.
then the image of politics and politicians changes. We are now far from the old Gortzian petty politics, for those who remember the film, now people are informed, aware, think rationally and choose with clear and unambiguous criteria not distracted by the dissonance of opposition and mud. So the bet for us must be and is that the world trusts us more and more every day and that in the upcoming elections we have a strong, self-reliant government that can continue and complete its vision for the development of our country in all sectors. We still have a long way to go but we have the appetite for hard work
One last comment to close, Mr. Karatano?
M.K. : I will only tell you that I am consciously and unceasingly beside each and every one of them in West Athens, every day we live together in the same neighborhoods and face the same problems and I will continue to be beside them from whatever angle I am, politics is only valuable when it is done with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of citizens, this is something I have been fighting for years and I will continue to fight for! Strong West then and let’s continue, as always, together!
