One in 10 young patients victims of abuse

By Penny Bouloutza

One in 10 children aged up to 3 years who arrive at the outpatient clinics of the National Health System (ESY) hospitals with injuries are victims of abuse. One in four fractures that occur in children under the age of 3 is, according to research by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (EKPA), also due to abuse.

Based on data from the Children’s Health Institute, 4,000 children are seriously abused every year in Greece. More than 100 children die, and as many are left with severe disabilities, as a result of the abuse. The actual total number of annual child abuse incidents is estimated at 20,000.

“And of course, there are thousands of children on the streets of Athens and other cities who are victims of sexual exploitation,” said the president of the Hellenic Association of Social Pediatrics of Northern Greece, Sofia Karagiannopoulou, during a discussion on child abuse organized by the Medical Association of Thessaloniki.

“Health workers, especially pediatricians, are the closest people to the family. We like to say that we are the best advocates of a child’s health,” noted Karagiannopoulou.

“In a current clinical examination the pediatrician should be able to recognize when a child is being abused, especially when one or more risk factors are present,” she added, noting that pediatricians should be cautious when the child comes from a family with members who abuse alcohol or drugs, with psychological problems or who still use physical punishment.