Andreas Xanthos is a Greek medical doctor and politician, and Member of the Hellenic Parliament for

Rethymno Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

for Syriza. From 2015 to 2019 he served as the

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

in the Second Tsipras Cabinet. He previously served as an Alternate Minister of Health in the First Tsipras Cabinet and is a member of the Central Committee of Syriza.

Education

Xanthos graduated from the medical school of the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

Medical career

Xanthos specialises in microbiology and worked as a national health service doctor at the health centres in Perama and in

. He was, for several years, chairman of the doctors' union in Rethymno and also a member of the General Council of the Federation of Greek Hospital Doctors (OENGE) and the General Assembly of the Panhellenic Medical Association (PIS). Xanthos took an active role in the establishment of a Voluntary Social Solidarity Clinic in Rethymno in 2008.

Political career

Xanthos is a member of the Central Committee of Syriza. He was first elected as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament for

, in the May 2012 legislative election and was subsequently reelected in June 2012, January 2015 and September 2015. In January 2015, Xanthos was appointed as an Alternate Minister of Health in the

First Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras Following his victory in legislative elections held on 25 January 2015, the newly elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appointed a new cabinet to succeed the cabinet of Antonis Samaras, his predecessor. A significant reshuffle took place on 1 ...

. In April, he claimed between 2.5 and 3 million people are "lost in the bureaucracy of a National Health System" and announced plans to cover uninsured Greeks. Following the formation of the

Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras The Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras was sworn in on 23 September 2015, following the Greek legislative election in September 2015. Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza, was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece on 21 September, having agreed to re- ...

, in September 2015, Xanthos was appointed as the

. Pavlos Polakis was also appointed to the Ministry of Health as an Alternate Minister of Health. It was noted that both Xanthos and Polakis were Cretan ministers, two of only three in the government. In an interview with '' Kathimerini'' in October 2015, Xanthos addressed the frailty of the National Health System, noting that he was reversing the six year trend of reducing the number of staff in the Service by hiring 3,400 additional staff members by 2016. In an interview with

Mega Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Eart ...

, a television station, in November 2015, Xanthos acknowledged that " e healthcare system condition is on the verge of falling apart and the government knows this." He also agreed with the warnings of doctors that the healthcare system was constantly on the verge of a blackout due to the lack of staff. In November, Xanthos also met with Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General of the

IFRC The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 192-member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...

, on a two-day visit to Greece.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xanthos, Andreas Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Greek microbiologists Government ministers of Greece Syriza politicians Greek MPs 2012 (May) Greek MPs 2012–2014 Greek MPs 2015 (February–August) Greek MPs 2015–2019 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni 20th-century Greek physicians 21st-century Greek physicians People from Rethymno Greek MPs 2019–2023 Health ministers of Greece