Greece's debt crisis: How it's affecting the country's R&D, healthcare, and brain drain rate

The economic troubles that had been brewing in Greece for several years bloomed into a political and financial meltdown as the country failed to make a scheduled debt repayment of $1.7 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Further, Greece opted to reject the bailout terms set by IMF, EU, and the European Central Bank. Amid fears that the country could go bankrupt and might be the first nation to leave the euro zone and probably the European Union (EU), researchers are highly concerned about the effects of this economic crisis on Greece’s research and development (R&D), healthcare system, and the brain drain rate.

R&D in Greece has been on a decline over the past few years, in particular, after the recession that began in 2007. Since 2009, research centers and universities have seen their budgets cut by up to 50%, affecting the salaries of university staff. These budget constraints have also forced many research centers to operate on their reserves. Researchers are also disappointed with Greece’s current government, led by the Syrzia party, for failing to deliver their election promises of providing new funding opportunities for academia. Varvara Trachana, an assistant professor of cell biology at the University of Thessaly, remarks, “There’s no money for research.” 

Moreover, the defaulting of the debt repayment opened new doors of despair for Greek researchers and universities as they have lost access to electronic journals. Hellenic Academic Libraries Link (HEAL-Link), the online portal that most Greek universities use to access e-journals by major publishers, suspended its services as the Greek government could not spare funds to keep the service operational. Additionally, the closure of several banks has added to the woes of researchers as they are unable to purchase research equipment. Some research institutes, such as the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), have discontinued or delayed their research projects as they might not be able to access their money.

With regard to science expenditure, Greece has benefited greatly from being a part of the EU. According to EU’s Joint Research Centre, the European Union paid for 16% to 18% of Greece's total R&D spending in 2012. Moreover, many researchers rely on EU funds as they provide grants for many Greek labs. Thus, if Greece leaves the EU, research institutes could lose a major source of stable funding. Babis Savakis, the director of the Biomedical Sciences Research Center in Vari, says, “If the Fleming institute loses these funds, it would have to stop 60% of its research and likely lay off 75 of its 155 employees.” Some researchers also fear that Greece might be ineligible to apply for and obtain funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 program, which has supported Greek research in the past.

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Meanwhile, healthcare in Greece is crumbling due to the economic crunch. According to Financial Post, between 2008 and 2015, the federal spending on hospitals fell from 6.3% to 3.9% of the GDP. Consequently, the quality of healthcare in the country has deteriorated. Hospitals are grappling with a shortage of medical supplies and staff. While the number of citizens requiring medical attention has increased, the number of doctors has decreased. Most doctors have migrated to rich European countries such as Germany and Sweden for better opportunities. “We’re facing our biggest brain drain ever,” said Varvara Trachana. On the other hand, the citizens of Greece are also bearing the brunt of the government’s cost cutting initiatives. Healthcare in Greece is linked to social security plans, and the growing unemployment rate implies an increasing population without health insurance. Hence, most people have to pay for their medical expenses without any government subsidies.

Some academicians have also noted the steady exodus of top researchers from Greece to other countries that offer better research facilities and opportunities. Dr. John Ioannidis, a Greek physician and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, gave a lecture titled “The exodus of Greek scientists – a meta-analysis” at the Panhellenic Medical Conference in Athens, in which he mentioned, “Although Greeks are only 0.2% of the global population, they represent 1% of all scientists in the world, and 3% of the most-cited scientists. However, 87% of the most-cited Greek scientists are not in Greece, and during the last few years the exodus has been accelerating.”

Despite these problems that have been ravaging Greek R&D, Greece’s vice minister for research and innovation, Costas Fotakis, has sought to assure Greek academicians about the stability of research funds. He stated, “Even in the hypothetical case that Greece decides to leave the Eurozone, Greece will be able to apply for E.U. grants as an E.U. member.” However, academicians are uncertain about the future of R&D of the country. “We really don’t know what will happen. We're hoping for the best," says Maria Stoumboudi, ichthyologist at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Anavyssos.