Athens - Greece defended its social welfare standards yesterday, saying a British television report on disabled children suffering harsh treatment in institutions showed isolated incidents. The Channel 4 documentary, Innocents Lost, showed young, disabled children abandoned in two Greek health centres, locked in cages and often tied to their beds.
"This is acceptable when doctors decide that a child is violent enough to hurt himself or others," Athens said. The programme on child neglect around the world, said many of the children in the Greek institutions were not lifted from their cots for years on end. They never saw natural daylight or received any kind of treatment.
