The pilot phase of the Greek Infection Prevention Program has been completed. The program, supported in full by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), achieved a significant reduction in hospital-acquired infections.
Αn event held on Monday, December 8, 2025, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) Lighthouse presented results and laid out the next steps of the Greek Infection Prevention Program (GRIPP-SNF), marking the completion of the program’s five-year pilot phase and its subsequent delivery to the Greek state. Leaders from the Hellenic Ministry of Health, representatives of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), and a large number of health care professionals who participated in the program were in attendance.
Remarks were given during the event by Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis and Deputy Minister of Health Marios Themistocleous, who underlined the importance of GRIPP-SNF for patient safety and antimicrobial resistance, presenting measurable results and a roadmap for expanding the program to the National Health System.
Specifically, Minister of Health Georgiadis, noted: “The completion of the five-year pilot phase of the GRIPP program marks a milestone for the public health system and constitutes tangible proof that systematic investment in knowledge, monitoring, and quality can deliver measurable results. I would like to warmly congratulate the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for its steadfast support of the National Health System, the Clinical Epidemiology and Outcomes Unit (CLEO), the Organization for Quality Assurance in Health (ODIPY), and the Nursing School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens for their excellent cooperation. The results are outstanding: a significant reduction in central-line associated infections, an impressive increase in compliance with hand hygiene, and hundreds of serious infections prevented. Equally important is the strengthening of hospitals with specialized surveillance nurses and the training of more than one thousand health professionals. With the program now being handed over to the state, we commit to continuing and expanding this work by incorporating the best practices of GRIPP-SNF into the three new Stavros Niarchos Foundation hospitals in Thessaloniki, Komotini, and Sparta. Our goal is a safer, more effective, and patient-oriented health system. This effort continues with consistency and determination for the benefit of all.”
Deputy Minister of Health Themistocleous said: “In 2022, the ECDC recorded that Greece held an unfavorable position regarding hospital-acquired infections and antimicrobial resistance compared with other EU countries. Since then, significant steps have been taken toward controlling and preventing hospital-acquired infections. Playing a primary role in this was the National Program for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (GRIPP-SNF), whose pilot phase was funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. In the 10 hospitals that participated in the pilot phase, we reduced central-line bloodstream infections by 45%, prevented more than 1,000 infections, and increased compliance with hand hygiene by 28%. Today, the Ministry of Health fully adopts the program’s practices and guidelines and is proceeding with its gradual implementation in all hospitals of the country. I would like to thank the Stavros Niarchos Foundation—and especially Mr. Andreas Dracopoulos—for the donation and the tangible support to the health system, as well as everyone who worked to achieve this outcome. This Government is moving forward step by step, yet decisively, with the most significant reform of the National Health System—not only in terms of infrastructure, but above all by establishing a patient-centered philosophy and approach.”
SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos said,“In 2017, when we first envisioned our Global Health Initiative (GHI) with the aim of contributing towards meaningful impact on public health in Greece and internationally, we planned not only major infrastructure and equipment projects, but also a robust network of stakeholders to bring about real change in the daily lives of both patients and health care professionals. The completion of the pilot phase of the Greek Infection Prevention Program (GRIPP-SNF) and its delivery to the Greek state to continue and expand it, marks an important moment for the GHI, as yet another grant—out of the more than 80 that are part of the initiative—adds value and producing tangible results on health outcomes. Our journey continues, with the aim of incorporating the best practices of the GRIPP-SNF Program, as well as other GHI educational programs, into the operation of the three new SNF public hospitals in Thessaloniki, Komotini, and Sparta, which are currently under construction and are expected to be delivered to the Greek people by 2027.”
Professor Theoklis Zaoutis, Managing Director of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Outcomes Research (CLEO), stated: “The results of the first five years of GRIPP-SNF have taught us a lot—but, above all, they taught us that it is up to us to effectively address a problem that constitutes a ‘silent pandemic,’ claiming the lives of hundreds of people in our country every year, not to mention the significant additional cost in health care resources, in a way that benefits both our fellow citizens and the health care system. We must make use of these lessons and the expertise we have gained from now on. We must continue to work, through collaboration and now at the national level, until we completely eliminate this silent pandemic.”
GRIPP-SNF was launched in 2021 and is funded exclusively by SNF as part of the Foundation’s Global Health Initiative (GHI). It is implemented at 10 large public hospitals across the country by the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Outcomes Research (CLEO), working in collaboration with the National Organization for Quality Assurance in Health (ODIPY) and the Nursing Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), with the goal of combatting the hospital-acquired infections that affect approximately 12% of patients hospitalized in Greece each year.
GRIPP–SNF is the result of long-term preliminary work and applied technical support in the field of infection control and prevention. SNF’s support began in 2011 with two consecutive grants to CLEO, lasting a total of eight years. Through SNF’s support the organization developed a unified electronic surveillance platform for infections, data processing and evidence-based intervention proposals, along with specialized staffing. The model was initially implemented in two pediatric hospitals in Athens and gradually expanded to fifteen hospitals. The successful performance of the model led to its expansion in 2021 into the comprehensive GRIPP–SNF program.
From 2021 to date, the GRIPP-SNF program has contributed to the development and consolidation of comprehensive surveillance systems and international best practices for infection control while strengthening participating hospitals with specialized nursing staff. The contributions of 11 infection surveillance nurses, who play a daily role in the implementation of the program at 10 hospitals, has been crucial.
Overall, the program has achieved remarkable results on a national scale, reducing the most significant hospital-acquired infections, such as Central-Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSIs), and increasing hand hygiene compliance in ten hospitals across the country. The participating hospitals implemented internationally recognized practices, such as standardizing procedures, using bundles for central line insertion and care, monitoring compliance with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “5 moments” of hand hygiene, and providing continuous feedback on surveillance results to hospital staff and management.
The event showcased the overall results of the five-year program, highlighting, among other things, the following measurable outcomes:
- The CLABSI infection rate decreased by 45%, from 8.99 to 4.94 infections per 1,000 central line days, with the lowest rate (4.02) recorded in the first half of 2025.
- Compliance with hand hygiene in the ten participating hospitals showed a significant and sustainable improvement, increasing from 45% before the intervention to over 61% after the intervention, with the highest rate (64%) recorded in 2025.
- During the 29 months following the first set of interventions, it is estimated that 933 CLABSI infections in adults and children were prevented.
At the same time, within the framework of GRIPP-SNF and in collaboration with the NKUA Nursing School, an educational program was designed and implemented which to date has completed 13 cycles providing free training and certification to 1,048 nurses in the basic principles of infection prevention and control.
With the completion of the pilot phase, the hospital-acquired infection prevention baton passes to ODIPY, which will continue to implement the best practices and conclusions of the GRIPP-SNF Program. As noted by ODIPY Chief Officer Christos Nestoras, the program will expanded under the auspices of ODIPY initially to all departments of the ten participating hospitals—which will also receive relevant quality certification—and gradually to all hospitals nationwide. At the same time, the free training program will be extended to all health care professionals in the country.
SNF, through its Global Health Initiative (GHI), seeks to expand access to health care, improve the quality of care for all, and empower providers on the front lines. With a total budget exceeding one billion dollars, the GHI supports more than eighty projects in Greece and abroad. In Greece, the Initiative’s projects are based on extensive public-private partnership and include, representatively, the design, construction, and outfitting of three new public hospitals in Komotini, Thessaloniki, and Sparta; the procurement of specialized medical equipment, such as new aircraft for Greece’s National Center for Emergency Care (EKAV) air ambulance services; the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Initiative (CAMHI); as well as training programs for healthcare professionals like GRIPP-SNF.
