Greece has set up a 27-member committee to draft rules on anti-ageing and longevity procedures. Nothing changes yet

Greek law has no such term as a "wellness and longevity centre", according to the Athens Medical Association, the ΙΣΑ (Ιατρικός Σύλλογος Αθηνών, Iatrikos Syllogos Athinon) ⁶⁷. On 9 October 2026 the Greek Ministry of Health (Υπουργείο Υγείας, Ypourgeio Ygeias) took a formal step towards a law on such services ¹ΕΛ. It set up a 27-member legislative drafting committee (Νομοπαρασκευαστική Επιτροπή, Nomoparaskevastiki Epitropi), a panel whose task is to write a draft law, and gave it six months to do so ¹. The decision itself regulates nothing ¹. Patients and clinics face the same rules after its publication as they did before ¹.

The decision was signed on 8 October 2026 by the Minister of Health, Adonis Georgiadis ¹. It was published the next day in the Government Gazette, the ΦΕΚ (Φύλλο Εφημερίδας της Κυβερνήσεως, Fyllo Efimeridas tis Kyverniseos), as issue 6126 of its Series B (Τεύχος Β΄), usually written "ΦΕΚ Β΄ 6126" ¹. It took effect on publication ¹.

Why now?

Georgiadis announced the committee on 11 September 2026, after public debate over the death of the singer Giorgos Mazonakis ²³. He said then that "many things here are in a grey area", in our translation ³. He also said that the growth of these services "was faster than the laws of states" (in our translation) ².

In a memo to the judicial authorities examining its inspections of such practices, the ΙΣΑ later said that the term "wellness and longevity centre" does not exist in Greek law ⁶⁷. The ΙΣΑ said it had carried out 25 inspections of such facilities over five years, 15 of them after complaints ⁶⁷.

What must the committee decide?

The decision gives the committee one job: to study and propose the legislative provisions needed for a draft law ¹. Article 1 lists seven matters the committee must examine and make recommendations on, "among other things" (in our translation) ¹:

• Scope: which medical or non-medical procedures fall under the law, and by which criteria, such as purpose, scientific evidence and degree of intervention ¹.
• Doctors: which medical specialties and sub-specialties may perform each procedure, judged by its subject, nature and risk ¹.
• Premises: the infrastructure, equipment and staffing that primary-care providers, hospitals or private clinics must have to carry the procedures out ¹.
• Other professionals: which other health professionals (that is, not doctors) or other scientists may perform them, within the scope of their professional rights and competences ¹.
• Patients: informed consent, and what patients must be told about expected benefits, possible risks and the limits of the scientific evidence ¹.
• Advertising: rules on promotion and advertising, with particular care to avoid misleading or insufficiently substantiated claims about prevention, slowing ageing, extending life expectancy or improving health and functionality ¹ΕΛ.
• Everything else needed to define, license, supervise and safely carry out these procedures ¹.

The 9 October 2026 decision names no specific treatment ¹. Deciding what counts as an anti-ageing or longevity procedure is left to the committee ¹.

The 9 October 2026 decision sets no rule that applies today. It asks a committee to write one within six months. ¹

Who sits on the committee?

The chair is Lilian-Venetia Vildiridi, Secretary-General for Health Services at the ministry ¹. The members include ¹:

• Matina Pagoni, president of the Panhellenic Medical Association, the ΠΙΣ (Πανελλήνιος Ιατρικός Σύλλογος, Panellinios Iatrikos Syllogos) ¹;
• Spyridon Sapounas, president of the National Organisation for Medicines, the ΕΟΦ (Εθνικός Οργανισμός Φαρμάκων, Ethnikos Organismos Farmakon), Greece's medicines regulator ¹;
• Georgios Chrousos, a member of the Academy of Athens and chair of the board of the Hellenic Institute of Healthy Longevity ¹;
• Anastasia Kotanidou, president of the governing committee of the Central Health Council, the ΚΕΣΥ (Κεντρικό Συμβούλιο Υγείας, Kentriko Symvoulio Ygeias) ¹;
• Sotirios Theocharis, president of Greece's society of dermatologists and venereologists (Ελληνική Δερματολογική και Αφροδισιολογική Εταιρεία, Elliniki Dermatologiki kai Afrodisiologiki Etaireia), and Konstantinos Toutouzas, president of the Hellenic Cardiological Society ¹.

The other members include a plastic surgeon, an anaesthetist, an internist specialising in hyperbaric medicine, a dietitian, the president of the Panhellenic Physiotherapists' Association, the director of the Institute of Chemical Biology at the National Hellenic Research Foundation (Εθνικό Ίδρυμα Ερευνών, Ethniko Idryma Erevnon) and three more ministry officials ¹. By our count, four of the 27 members are lawyers, two of them legal advisers to the Athens Medical Association ¹. The chair, members and secretaries receive no pay or compensation ¹. The committee may call in outside experts and form subcommittees ¹.

When will there be a law?

The decision says the committee "must complete its work within six months" (in our translation) ¹ΕΛ. The decision took effect on 9 October 2026, so by our calculation the draft is due around 9 April 2027 ¹. The decision does not say whether the draft will go to public consultation or when a bill will reach Parliament ¹.

What the law will say is open. In September 2026 Georgiadis promised that adverts for such services "will be banned" (in our translation) ⁴. The decision as published asks for rules against misleading claims, not for a ban ¹ΕΛ. Georgiadis has also promised a way for citizens to check a practice's licence, described in reports as a QR code at practices or a mobile app ⁴⁵.

What do critics say?

In Parliament on 7 October 2026, answering a question on longevity practices, Georgiadis said: "Why didn't I solve faster something no other country in the world has solved? Well, I'm not Alexander the Great!", in our translation ⁸. He refused to name practices flagged by MedWatch, a ministry digital tool, before checks are complete, citing data protection and the risk to reputations ⁹.

Pavlos Polakis, who leads on health and transparency for the opposition party SYRIZA, said on 10 October 2026 that inspections, closures and criminal punishment for centres he called illegal must come before any framework ¹⁰. "Geriatrics is one thing and anti-ageing another. Science is one thing and magic another," Polakis said, in our translation ¹¹. One outlet headlined his statement as accusing the minister of preparing a framework "to cover" (in our translation) people Polakis called charlatans ¹².