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Adolescent physical, mental and reproductive health

in Greece

Suicide rate among 15-19 year-olds is the lowest in the EU (1.2/100.000) (2019).
89.1 per cent of 16-year-old adolescents had drunk alcohol at least once in their lifetime (2019). This rate has been a bit higher (96.4 per cent) 20 years ago (1999). 7.2 per cent of those 16 years old have drunk alcohol more than 10 times within the last 30 days.
32.4 per cent of 16-year-old adolescents had smoked at least once in their lifetime (2019). 15 per cent of 16 years old adolescents were reported to have smoked in the month prior to the survey (2019).
In 2021, 2,058 babies were born to mothers younger than 19 years old.

Gender

Boys are 2.5 times more likely to commit suicide than girls (1.7 vs 0.7 suicides per 100.000 persons) (2019).

Enabling Environment

Legislation, policy, resources, coordination, data

The state of mental health, already a concern, has exacerbated by the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Development of a national action plan for mental health.
Strengthen research, comprehensive and quality data regarding the prevalence of mental health and psychosocial needs of children and adolescents as well as accessibility, availability and quality of prevention and response services to children and their caregivers.

Adequately staffed services, facilities, information, commodities

Gaps in the provision of mental health services, with significant shortages of staff and services particularly evident in rural areas.
No community-based care for children and adolescents with mental health issues, or for parents with mental health problems.
Sex and reproductive health education is not provided systematically to school-aged children.
The majority of regions across Greece do not have mental health services for children.

36(a) Ensure that all children, including those who are out of school and those in rural and remote areas, receive confidential and child-friendly sexual and reproductive health information and services, including access to contraceptives;
36(b) Address mental health issues among adolescents, including those that contribute to suicidal behaviour; increase the availability and accessibility of child psychiatrists and child psychologists and encourage children to seek mental health services, without stigma;
36(c) Continue its efforts to prevent substance abuse and provide accessible and youth-friendly substance dependence treatment and support services.

Increase the number of mental health specialists to ensure adequate national coverage.
Strengthen availability for and accessibility to community-based mental health prevention and response services that are child-friendly and responsive to their needs.
Strengthen existing community-based services to cater to the needs of all children and expand mobile units to increase the reach of services in remote areas.
Development of innovative online platforms where all children and adolescents can access information and interact with professional counsellors.
Actions for the early detection and intervention in mental health problems and/or eating disorders as well as to prevent relapses of children and adolescents with eating disorders through specialized psychosocial support services.
Capacity building of frontline mental health professionals and paraprofessionals, including through the development of standard training packages to provide psychosocial and positive parenting support to caregivers, provision of child-friendly, age-appropriate services that foster the participation of children and adolescent in health care decisions and specialization in child psychology and psychiatry with a focus on cultural competence.

Financial access and social behavioural drivers

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