The Onassis Foundation has unveiled a plan to build Greece’s first dedicated organ transplant hospital.

Foundation president Anthony Papadimitriou said the €130m ($148m) facility, to be attached to the existing Onassis heart surgery centre in Athens, will fill a gap in Greece's medical system.

Papadimitriou unveiled details of the project at a presentation in Athens on 31 October, attended by dozens of senior politicians, businessmen and celebrities.

Left: Anthony Papadimitriou, president of the Onassis Foundation, with the foundation's director of culture Afroditi Panagiotakou. At the presentation of a plan to build the Onassis transplant centre in Athens, 31 October 2018 Photo: Contributed

A lack of suitable infrastructure and qualified medical personnel, as well as public distrust in their country's health system, discourages Greeks from donating organs.

Many patients are forced to go abroad to find them, with about 260 Greeks having had transplants in foreign hospitals over the past five years.

Almost three times as many patients had to travel abroad for post-operative examinations.

‘A catalyst to energise’

“The Onassis National Transplant Centre [ONTRC] is expected to serve as a catalyst, which will energise the transplant sector in Greece,” the Onassis Foundation said.

The ONTRC will be governed by private law, in cooperation with Greece’s state-run health system. Therefore, patients will receive transplants free of charge, even if they are uninsured.

The ONTRC is expected to be up and running in four years' time.

The packed main stage of the Onassis Cultural Centre during the presentation on the Onassis National Transplant Centre Photo: Contributed