Prevention holds the key, say Greek experts

ATHENS－Greece managed to effectively address the first wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic, despite the faltering in the national health system after a decade of a financial crisis, by focusing on prevention rather than treatment, Greek Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias told a forum in Athens last week.

As early as January, authorities had drafted a list of COVID-19 referral hospitals nationwide and personnel at medical centers and airports had been trained to deal with cases, before the first infection was diagnosed in the country on Feb 26, while measures were implemented and no delay to contain the virus, he said.

The pandemic underscores how significant prevention is, and prevention is key in both ancient Greek and Chinese traditional medicine, Greek experts said.

"The coronavirus is here to stay, and we must come to terms with this," said Professor Panagiotis Behrakis, a pulmonologist-intensivist. "Public healthcare conditions should change and what is more important for me is that the crisis highlighted how significant prevention is."

From the time of Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, treatment in the West has been based on three pillars－prevention, diagnosis and therapy, he said.

In recent decades scientists have made strides using technology for diagnostic and therapeutic reasons, which, however, have not been matched with a similar development in prevention, with the exception of vaccines, the Behrakis said.

"If we take a good look at the way the international community reacted to the current pandemic and compare it with Greek statesman Pericles' response to the plague in Athens 2,500 years ago, it is the same. They practiced social distancing and were burning the deceased."

Throughout the course of history, humanity has been tested numerous times by epidemics who have afflicted societies, changing social structures and often the way we generally perceive things, Greek physician Anastasia Karamouzi said.

Karamouzi, who grew up in China in the 1960s, studied medicine in Beijing. She identifies in depth the similarities and differences in the philosophy and practice of medicine in the West and the East and says prevention is the key in both cases.

"The wealth of wisdom of the past 5,000 years significantly helps us to have best results in prevention. Therefore, combining traditional Chinese medicine with classic Western medicine and technology is something we must take advantage of and utilize with regards to preventing sickness."

Greece has registered 4,135 COVID-19 cases, including 201 fatalities, according to the World Health Organization as of Sunday.

Xinhua