Athens "surrenders" to prostitutes, drugs and TB

The Greek Health Ministry has recorded a dramatic rise in prostitution, with foreign underage girls doing business in downtown Athens and in ten more areas around the Attica prefecture. Moreover, there has been a rise in TB cases, sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis C and B.

While speaking in parliament, Deputy Health minister Michalis Timosidis said that, “drug addicts, but above all minors carrying out street prostitution in and around Omonoia at dusk, are an issue of major importance to us”. The ministry is in close cooperation with the Municipality of Athens, aiming at finding a solution to fight the problem and at the same time is collaborating with competent ministries towards the same goal.

“The issue is not to remove immigrants from the place and move them down the road a bit”, underlined Timosidis, “but to find solutions, which unfortunately cannot be found in the blink of an eye”.