In 2025, within the framework of global efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, one thematic priority of Greece’s international development cooperation was the comprehensive coverage of the health-related needs of its partner countries (in alignment with SDG 3 – “Good Health and Well-being”). This was pursued through multilateral contributions to organizations of the United Nations system, the provision of humanitarian assistance in kind, and the bilateral implementation of development initiatives.
With regard to multilateral contributions in the health sector, in 2025 Greece’s contributions through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Hellenic Aid) (totaling EUR 1,250,000) to the World Health Organization (WHO) included, indicatively:
(a) improvement of maternal and neonatal health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
(b) response to the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
(c) addressing obstetric fistula in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa,
(d) strengthening WHO actions for Libya,
(e) a financial contribution for Syria, within the framework of the 9th Brussels Conference on Syria, Brussels, March 2025, and
(f) strengthening WHO actions in support of Palestinians.
In addition, Greece contributed to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the programme: “Provision of reproductive and maternal health interventions for refugees and vulnerable populations in Moldova affected by the war in Ukraine.”
With regard to humanitarian assistance in kind, in 2025 two airlift operations were carried out for the transport of medical and pharmaceutical supplies to the Gaza Strip using aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force. Furthermore, at the expense of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, two consignments of humanitarian aid (pharmaceutical material and healthcare supplies) were transported by sea and land. These were collected by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the Panhellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (PEF) and the organization “HumanPlus,” to support hospitals assisted by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.
With regard to Greek bilateral development initiatives related to the health sector:
(a) The implementation (for the academic year 2025–2026) of a programme for the training of doctors of Albanian nationality in Greece has begun, based on a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the University of Ioannina, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs covering the accommodation costs of eight trainee doctors.
(b) Continuation of the implementation of the programme “Fetal Medicine Programme 2022–2025,” which includes the establishment of Fetal Medicine/ Prenatal Screening Units and related training, in cooperation with the London-based Fetal Medicine Foundation, in five countries (Ethiopia, Albania, Armenia, North Macedonia, and Moldova) and Kosovo*.
(c) Support for an initiative of the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Association of Midwives of North Macedonia, enabling the participation of midwives from North Macedonia in the English-language lifelong learning programme “Advanced Clinical Skills in Labour and Childbirth” at the Centre for Lifelong Learning (KEDIVIM) of the University of Western Macedonia.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice regarding the declaration of independence of Kosovo.