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Current developments in health care
technology, the ageing of the population, the
increasing number of hospital beds, physicians,
new laboratories and rising consumer expectations
for more sophisticated and expensive medical
treatment, are the characteristics of most of the
health care systems in developed
countries.
The demand for
health care in Cyprus is increasing. The number
of elderly people is low but growing and creates
new service demands. Technological changes, both
in terms of equipment and pharmaceuticals, is
rapid. Much of this is integrated and
disseminated rapidly due to commercial
incentives. Some new therapies, for instance new
drug treatments after the onset of heart attacks,
offer significant health gains at modest cost.
The problems of managing these new services in
diagnosis, treatment and prevention are
great.
The standard of
health of the Cypriot population compares
favourably with that of the population of
developed countries.
Cyprus has been
successfully freed of common infections and
parasitic diseases and the pattern of morbidity
resembles that of developed industrial nations
with cardiovascular diseases, malignancies and
car accidents predominating as the causes of
death. It should be pointed out that Cyprus has
successfully eliminated malaria in the past and
more recently echinococciasis, through the
implementation of special campaigns. Current
educational and preventive programmes are proving
successful in almost eliminating the incidence of
thalassaemia, which was a severe health
problem.
Health
Services
The medical needs of
the Cyprus population are met through three
systems of health services: The government health
sector, the private health sector, and a number
of schemes covering specific sections of the
population.
Government
Provision: Health care is provided free through
government facilities to those who are eligible.
The groups formally covered by this scheme are:
government employees, individuals earning less
than C£6.000, households earning less than
C£10.000 per annum and households with more than
three children. Individuals with an income
between C£6.000 and C£9.000 and households with
an income between C£10.000 and C£14.000 have
health care provided at 50% of the prescribed
rates.
The range of
services offered through the government health
scheme is comprehensive and includes visits to
general physicians, specialist consultations,
inpatient stays, medical care given abroad in
specialities not offered in Cyprus and all drugs
prescribed.
Furthermore, medical
care free of charge is provided in all cases
receiving treatment at the accident and emergency
departments irrespective of the economic
situation or the nationality of the person
involved, including visitors. However, if these
cases need hospitalisation, subsequent care fees
have to be paid.
The hospital system
has undergone substantial change during this
decade. New hospitals in Larnaca, Paphos and
Limassol were built and the building of the new
Nicosia General Hospital has already started. A
new hospital for Famagusta has also been
planned.
Government provision
of health care is funded out of general
taxation.
Private health
sector: It is open to all those who can afford to
pay for their treatment. Private medicine is
dominated by a large number of physicians in
individual practice. A number of polyclinics have
also been established in urban areas with a
number of physicians offering a range of medical
services.
Special
Schemes: A
number of special schemes cover specific sections
of the population. These include:
(i) Medical Services
provided by the Trade Unions to the employed
persons and their dependants. These services
provide mostly primary health care. The above
schemes use both the government and private
sector whenever secondary or tertiary care
services are needed, through a partial
reimbursement of medical expenses.
(ii) A number of
employer-sponsored arrangements, all of which
provide free medical care mainly through public
health facilities.
Apart from the
curative services offered by the public and
private sectors, the public services, in
cooperation with other Ministries and the
Municipal Authorities, are concerned with the
provision of preventative health services in the
form of health education, inoculations, control
of epidemics and infectious diseases, the
disposal of sewage, the control of the quality of
drinking water, food etc.
While the private
sector is mainly concentrated in the urban areas,
the public health services provide adequate
coverage for the rural areas, ensuring
accessibility through a network of rural
hospitals, rural health centres, subcentres and
dispensaries. These services are staffed with
doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, health
inspectors and health visitors who ensure the
provision of adequate services.
At the end of 1999
the number of persons per doctor stood at 357,
while for dentists it was 1.054. There were 47.6
general and specialised hospital beds per 10.000
people and the ratio of persons per bed was
216.
It is well known
that health standards depend not only on the
availability of health resources such as
hospitals, doctors, nurses but also on general
environmental conditions and Cyprus has been
fortunate to have a mild temperate climate while
the absence of heavy industry has meant that air
pollution has been limited. In addition the
standard of education and early attempts at
provision of piped water, sewage disposal and
good sanitation ensure the right hygienic
environment.
Indeed the standard
of health of the Cypriot population can be
considered quite high. Already expectancy of life
at birth has reached 80 years for women and 75
years for men. Infant mortality rates have been
successfully contained to 6 per thousand of
population. The crude death rate stands at 7,6
per thousand of population.
Health Care
Reform
The reform of the
health care sector is a high priority of
government health policy.The present system of
health care has for long been critised for the
fragmentation of services, the lack of
coordination between the public and private
health sector, the lack of equity in its
financing and in general its inability to respond
to the expectations of the population.
On 20 April 2001,
the House of Representatives enacted a law for
the introduction of a National Health System
(NHS), which will provide health care free at the
time of delivery. It will be universal as regards
population coverage and will be financed by
contributions from the state, the employers, the
employees, the self-employed, the pensioners and
all those who have non-employment
incomes.
The NHS will be
administered by the Health Insurance
Organisation, a public law body managed by a
tripartite Board. The Organisation will purchase
health services from the Government and private
medical institutions and services. |
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