Focus on rheumatism

“A POSITIVE stance towards life” was yesterday’s motto to mark International Day for Rheumatism.

Health Minister Christos Patsalides and EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou were among those present at an event organised by the Cyprus League against Rheumatism.

It kicked off with a presentation by Sandra Canadelo, the Chair of the Standing Committee of PARE (People with Arthritis/Rheumatism in Europe), who centred on the psychological effects that rheumatism has on people’s lives.

There was also an exhibition of paintings by rheumatism sufferers, entitled ‘The creative side of Cypriot rheumatics’. The presentation was followed by two workshops.

Meanwhile, the government is one step away from creating the State Rheumatism Clinic and Rehabilitation Centre, according to the Health Minister.

According to Patsalides, with new nursing staff expected to arrive at state hospitals in 2009, one of the clinics that has top priority at Nicosia General Hospital is the one for treating rheumatism sufferers.

Patsalides was speaking after he met with Canadelo and the head of the Cyprus League against Rheumatism, Marios Kouloumas.

Apart from the Clinic, Patsalides added, the government was also planning to reopen the Forum for rheumatism sufferers.

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.