SOME MONTHS ago, the Minister of Health Christos Patsalides called a news conference to present a study that was supposedly aimed at tackling cancer. This was an embarrassingly superficial document, consisting of vague generalities which betrayed the little thought that had been put into the ministry’s otherwise well-intentioned initiative. We have heard nothing about it since it was announced last year, which should come as no surprise given its lack of depth and focus.
Last week at the House Health Committee deputies were informed of Patsalides’ newest pet project – the creation of an organ transplant centre at the Nicosia General Hospital, which, of course, aimed to turn Cyprus into a ‘regional centre’ for such operations. No time-frame was given for the creation of the centre, which for the moment is nothing more than a pipe-dream for a minister who has been labouring under the illusion that health policy is forged by public declarations, backed by an absolute minimum of thought.
Have the minister and his ministry advisors done any research into what is needed to set up an organ transplant centre? How many specialist surgeons would be needed, where would they be found, what type of medical equipment would be required and would there be availability of organs in a country with a tiny population? How many operations would such a centre be able to carry out per year and would the number be adequate to justify the big investment needed in capital and human resources? We doubt any of these questions have been asked let alone properly answered by the health ministry.
This could be because the reasons behind the decision to set up a transplant centre at the state hospital are not related to healthcare considerations. The decision seems to have more to do with a falling out between the health ministry and the state-subsidised Paraskevaidion Kidney Transplant Centre, which decided to move its premises to a new private hospital, currently under construction rather than Nicosia General Hospital. The decision went against the minister’s wishes and he now appears to want to penalise the Paraskevaidion by setting up a rival centre and cutting its state funding.
What serious person would base the formulation of national health policy on personal grudges? The Paraskevaidion has served Cyprus well for 24 years, establishing itself as a very reliable, professional and well-trusted kidney transplant centre, yet the minister is prepared destroy it by setting up a rival centre and starving it of funding. He has found support for his short-sighted agenda from the president, who is ideologically in favour of extending state control over the health sector.
It defies belief that the future of a Centre that has proved its usefulness, beyond doubt, to our society is now under threat because it went against a touchy, minister’s wishes. At best, it would be replaced by a state kidney transplant centre, because nobody believes the state hospital would ever carry out liver or heart transplants.
