Cancer patients demand specialised ward

CANCER patients yesterday expressed anger over the government’s decision to operate an oncology unit in the new Nicosia hospital without a specialised ward.

The government was forced to take the decision after Nicosia cancer patients protested about an earlier decision to shut down the state oncology department in the old Nicosia hospital and refer patients to the Bank of Cyprus (BOC) oncology centre.

Patients feared the BOC centre could not handle all the cases, an argument that has been was confirmed by the centre itself.

In the end the government decided to open an oncology unit at the new state-of-the-art £85 million hospital because no provision had been made for a specialised cancer ward.

Treatment would thus be carried out in the other wards according to individual cases.

The patients’ fears were conveyed to House president Demetris Christofias who viewed their demand with understanding.

Christofias said the matter was being discussed by the House Health Committee and expressed hope common ground would be found so that the Nicosia general hospital would continue to provide the necessary services to cancer patients.

“Of course, I view the demand with understanding and in a positive way; I’ve been discussing it with the health minister and the government in general and I hope, as I said, to find a solution so that these suffering people would receive the necessary care,” Christofias said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.