Meeting to decide NHS policy ‘very soon’

The introduction of the National Health Scheme (NHS) is a priority for the government and President Nicos Anastasiades will chair a meeting to decide the way forward in the coming days, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said on Tuesday.

Speaking after a cabinet session, Christodoulides said “intra-governmental deliberations are ongoing, and we should expect an expanded meeting to be held by the president very soon”.

Asked whether the cabinet supports the ‘mini-NHS’ proposal tabled by Health minister Giorgos Pamboridis, the spokesman said the effort to reform health in Cyprus has been ongoing since 2001.

“For the government, the issue of healthcare reform is among the priorities, and I repeat that in the coming days a meeting on this issue will be chaired by the president, during which particular decisions with regard to implementation are expected to be made,” he said.

“Let us be a little patient, announcements will be made soon.”

Last month, Pamboridis suddenly announced a departure from the original planning for the introduction of the NHS towards phased implementation starting with reduced income-based universal contributions in exchange for universal coverage at state hospitals only which he named a “mini-NHS”.

The proposal sparked the reaction of political parties and all associations of healthcare professionals, who even banded together in a joint news conference to bash the plan. Among other things, they argued that state hospitals, which currently struggle to treat 75 to 80 per cent of Cypriots, cannot take on the additional burden of offering universal healthcare, i.e. serving 100 per cent of the public.

Undeterred, Pamboridis launched a counter-attack, saying he does not plan to back down and invited doctors and nurses to get on board. Part of the mini-NHS plan, he said, is to help public hospitals stand on their own feet before they are exposed to the “unrestrained competition” that is expected in the NHS environment.

Traditionally a case of revolving doors due to the sheer complexity, scale, and political vulnerabilities of the NHS project, Pamboridis’ post has thus far claimed two ministers, and the current occupant has publicly said that if government and parliament don’t adopt his NHS planning, he too will be vacating the position.

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.