On the initiative of ELIZA, the Child Safety Care Unit ‘Sofia Varvitsiotis’ of the 2nd Department of Paediatrics of the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (N.K.U.A.) was founded at the “P. & A. Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital in Athens, and inaugurated by the President of the Hellenic Republic, on 5th June 2018.
It constitutes the first hospital-based child protection unit in Greece.
The needs of children at risk of abuse and/or neglect are best addressed by hospital-based protection teams.
Thus, the Child Safety Care Unit’s ultimate goal is to identify infants and children at risk of abuse and neglect, at the youngest possible age, and to safeguard vulnerable families.
The activities of the Unit involve:
- the medical evaluation and monitoring of infants and children with suspected physical or sexual abuse and/or neglect (CAN)
- the coordination of multidisciplinary patient care involving all hospital and community professionals e.g. physicians, nurses, social workers, mental health care professionals, forensic physicians, police.
- the development of written hospital protocols for the identification and management of child abuse and neglect (CAN)
- the development of primary and secondary prevention health care interventions
- the collection of data to guide evidence-based practice
According to international standards, the Unit has a fully equipped and child-friendly medical examination room, as well as a meeting and working area for all collaborating staff.
The ELIZA Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children would like to sincerely thank the I. Varvitsiotis family, the Lambropoulos Foundation as well as friends and members of ELIZA, who generously contributed to the establishment of the Unit.
2nd Care Unit for the Safety of Children at the “Attikon” Hospital
The inauguration ceremony for the “ELIZA” Care Unit for the Safety of Children of the C’ University Paediatric Clinic at the “ATTIKON” University Hospital was held on Monday 22 November 2021 and was attended by H.Ε. the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mrs. Katerina Sakkelaropoulou.
The unit is the second in Greece:
to undertake the examination and cross-disciplinary treatment of children for whom there is suspicion of abuse / neglect.
ELIZA warmly thanks PRODEA Investments for its generosity and decisive contribution to the creation of the Unit, as also the MATILDA Foundation and Henkel Beauty Care Greece which offer significant support for the every-day operation and staffing of the Unit.
