Desperate Greek Citizens Inject Themselves With HIV Because Of It's Status Benefits Of $950 Monthly

A growing number of Greek residents have injected themselves with HIV so they can claim about $950 in monthly health benefits, according to a report commissioned by the World Health Organisation.
A Lancet report, in turn, cites a study by the Greek University Mental Health Research Institute, which describes a "well-founded suspicion that some problem users are intentionally infected with HIV, because of the benefit they are entitled to (approximately €1,400 every two months), and also because they are granted “exceptional admission” to the Substitution Programme."

The report, Review of social determinants and the health divide in the WHO European Region, found cases of self-inflicted HIV infections in Greece, as the population continues to grapple with a deeply troubled economy. The country's suicide rate has also skyrocketed, while healthcare access has declined. "These adverse trends in Greece pose a warning to other countries undergoing significant fiscal austerity, including Spain, Ireland and Italy," the report noted. Homicide and theft rates have correspondingly doubled, the WHO report said, adding:

"Prostitution has also risen, probably as a response to economic hardship." The WHO's report stated that almost half of new infections were attributable to self-infliction, but on Tuesday the organisation said it would retract that report. The report did not explain where the data came from, and the organisation did not respond to  Al Jazeera's requests for comment on Tuesday.

However, the report relies in part on an article in the medical journal Lancet, which references "accounts of deliberate self-infection by a few individuals to obtain access to benefits of €700 per month and faster admission onto drug substitution programmes."