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

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...

for Rethymno on Crete for

Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...

. From 2015 to 2019 he served as the Minister of Health in the

Second Tsipras Cabinet 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- ...

. He previously served as an Alternate Minister of Health in the

First Tsipras Cabinet 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 17 ...

and is a member of the Central Committee of

Education

Xanthos graduated from the medical school of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Medical career

Xanthos specialises in

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

and worked as a national health service doctor at the health centres in

Perama Perama ( el, Πέραμα) is a suburb of Piraeus. It is part of Athens urban area and belogs to the Piraeus regional unit. It lies on the southwest edge of the Aegaleo mountains, on the Saronic Gulf coast. It is 8 km northwest of Piraeus, ...

and in Rethymno. 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

. He was first elected as a

Member of the Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the Hel ...

for Rethymno, Crete, in the May 2012 legislative election and was subsequently reelected in June 2012,

January 2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

and September 2015. In January 2015, Xanthos was appointed as an Alternate Minister of Health in the First Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras. 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, in September 2015, Xanthos was appointed as the Minister of Health.

Pavlos Polakis Pavlos Polakis ( el, Παύλος Πολάκης; born 1965) is a Greek surgeon and politician. Polakis was the mayor of Sfakia on the island of Crete. In the January 2015 legislative election, he was elected a member of the Hellenic Parliame ...

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 ''Kathimerini'' (Greek: Η Καθημερινή, pronounced kaθimeriˈni meaning ''The Daily'') is a daily, political and financial morning newspaper published in Athens. Its first edition was printed on September 15, 1919. and it is considered ...

'' 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-Earth ...

, 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 Elhadj As Sy (born 1958 ) is a Senegalese humanitarian aid expert who served as the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) from 2014 until 2019. Education Sy studied Arts and Human Sciences ...

, Secretary General of the IFRC, 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