Dodecanese MP Giorgos Nikitiadis, PASOK's parliamentary development spokesperson, has highlighted what he describes as residents' exclusion from publicly provided laboratory tests on Kos for 15 months. In a statement accompanying a renewed parliamentary question, he says people are being forced to pay private providers or travel to other islands for a public service.
Nikitiadis says Kos is the only area of Greece facing this exclusion. The question was submitted on Thursday 12 February 2026 to Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis.
According to the question, Kos Hospital and Health Centre has no laboratory-testing appointments available until April 2026. It says this increases inconvenience and health risks, particularly for people requiring regular monitoring or an early diagnosis.
The PASOK MP also notes that private medical laboratories on Kos have ceased working with EOPYY, Greece's national healthcare services organisation, since November 2024 because an agreement with the Health Ministry has not been reached. His question criticises the minister for repeatedly presenting the possible arrival of large diagnostic laboratory chains on Kos as a threat.
Residents, including people on low wages and small pensions, consequently have to pay for private tests themselves or travel to neighbouring islands such as Kalymnos and Rhodes, incurring further expense and inconvenience.
Nikitiadis recalls that he raised the issue in an earlier parliamentary question. According to his new submission, assurances were given that appointments at Kos General Hospital would increase and the laboratory would receive additional staff. Despite repeated commitments and public statements, he says a solution has still not been provided.
He asks why cooperation between private laboratories on Kos and EOPYY has not been restored despite repeated assurances. He also asks what the minister intends to do to ensure residents have full and prompt access to laboratory tests through EOPYY, the hospital and the health centre, on the same basis as other Greek citizens.
After submitting the question, Nikitiadis said, “This is how the New Democracy government honours Kos, the birthplace of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, by leaving people without access to laboratory tests for more than 15 months and forcing them either to pay private providers out of their own pockets or travel to other islands for prescriptions. It is unbelievable.
“Kos, the island of Hippocrates, is the only place in Greece where residents are denied a basic public healthcare service and subjected to expense and inconvenience. These are New Democracy's ‘achievements’. This is New Democracy.”
