Government approves additional budget to public health

The Council of Ministers on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for the establishment of an additional floor at the Thalassemia Centre in Nicosia.

On top of that, a total of €5.137m was added to the State Health Services (Okypy) budget.

Speaking at a news conference, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said this is a very important step forward for the health sector in Cyprus.

Ioannou said construction of the new floor at the Thalassemia Center would cost €1.5m.

To speed up the process, it was decided that the estimated €1.5m should be provided by the Cyprus Anti-Anemia Association, so that construction works can begin quickly.

The extra money for Okypy, the minister said, was taken after a meeting of the Board of Directors and includes 37 additional posts of specialised administrative staff for the better functioning of ten hospitals.

The budget will also cover the hiring of additional staff, especially in the administrative and IT sectors.

“The supplementary budget also includes funds to compensate staff for overtime hours worked, and this includes the 15 state-run pharmacies as well,” Ioannou added.

“With the implementation of the additional budget, we demonstrate once again our support for public health.

“In 2019 alone we approved 325 new posts in public hospitals, hiring doctors, nurses and administrative staff.

“These 37 new positions only strengthen the trust we have in the public health sector.”

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.