(ANSA) - ATHENS - Doctors, nurses and ambulance staff from Greece's state-run hospitals and health centers have started a 24-hour strike protesting understaffing and underfunding and demanding back pay amid Greece's financial crisis as To Vima online reports. The Greek union of hospital doctors (EINAP) said that it fully supports the mobilization and actions of doctors in response to unpaid overtime and the deterioration of working conditions in the national healthcare system (ESY).

The federation of public hospital employees (POEDIN) has called a 24-hour strike in response to the many problems in the country's ailing healthcare system, which are attributed to staff shortages and the significant budget cuts that have been implemented in recent years. Doctors and hospital employees intend to demonstrate outside the Ministry of Health. EINAP has called the government to support public hospitals by increasing funding and recruiting permanent staff members. The country's largest public sector trade union ADEDY is supporting the strike and has called for support of the demonstration outside the Health Ministry at noon. As such, ADEDY has called a work stoppage from noon onwards, so that their members can join the doctors.(ANSA).