Paphos cancer mum refused state financial aid

A PAPHOS mum who has recently returned to the island after receiving potentially life saving radiotherapy in Germany for nine brain tumours has been refused government aid for her treatment.

“I have just received a letter from the government refusing me funding for the treatment in Germany and without the help of the Paphos people forum it scares me to think that I might have died and might not be sitting her now,” Alethea Ayres, 35, who was diagnosed with a life threatening melanoma last year, said.

The forum inspired the Paphos community to come together to raise funds for Alethea to receive radiotherapy treatment in Germany, which she completed earlier this month.

“The government said that I could have had treatment here in Cyprus and refused my application,” she said.

According to her doctor, treatment in Cyprus would’ve been a course of far more aggressive radiotherapy targeting the whole of her brain. This may have resulted in damage to her brain and caused further problems.

Who gets government aid is decided by a committee appointed by the ministry of health, who studies each case individually after being given a report by the patient’s doctor.

“My doctor told me about the treatment in Germany, which was a much better option as they targeted each brain tumour individually and over a longer period of time.”

Alethea said not only would this have a better chance of success, but also damage to her brain would be minimised.

“I applied for aid at the beginning of February and have only just received the reply now. It’s wrong that people with serious conditions should be left for so long,” she said.

Following treatment for her melanoma last year, Alethea was wrongly given the all clear following a CTC body scan.

“My doctor says that it also appears medics missed the signs of the largest tumour, which is apparent on the body scan.” She initially thought she had one brain tumor, but an MRI just a couple of weeks later showed Alethea had nine. The tumours were aggressive and multiplied at lightning speed.

 

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.