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More than 30,000 refugee children inoculated within a year: Greek health ministry

Xinhua, February 22, 2017 Adjust font size:

More than 30,000 children of refugees and migrants stranded in Greece have been inoculated within the year against ten illnesses, the Greek health ministry said on Tuesday.

About 62,500 refugees and migrants are currently accommodated in camps across Greece after the closure of northern borders last winter, according to the latest data provided by the Greek migration policy ministry this week. Half of them are minors.

Greece will continue to provide health care to all refugee and migrant children, the General Secretary of Public Health Ioannis Baskozos stressed.

The education ministry, which launched the schooling program in October, repeatedly stressed that all refugee children are vaccinated before they attend classes.

Currently, 2,500 refugee children are attending afternoon classes in public schools nationwide and the aim is to increase the number to 10,000 in the coming months.

The health ministry statement was released as Greek police announced the arrest of a 25-year-old man for a racist attack on refugee children on Monday evening at an elementary school at Oreokastro, a suburb of Thessaloniki city in northern Greece.

On Tuesday, there were no incidents due to increased security measures to prevent anyone unrelated to the school from approaching its grounds. Endit