Filenews 13 January 2022
The creation of a bone marrow transplant centre in Cyprus was discussed on Thursday by the parliamentary health committee, which asked the Ministry of Health to conduct a study on economic viability for the whole project.
All parties supported the need to conduct a study for the creation of this centre in Cyprus, which is estimated to bring savings for the state, but also to alleviate the overall burden on patients and their families. The issue was discussed ex officio following a proposal by DISY MPs Savias Orfanidou, Efthymios Diplaros, Charalambos Pazarou and Dimitris Demetriou.
"We believe that this study will primarily serve the patients themselves avoiding hassle, psychological and financial costs both for the patients themselves and their families and on the other hand will create the right conditions for upgrading Cyprus as an international medical centre and especially in the region, but also as a centre that can be upgraded technologically, but also scientifically through the specialization we will get", said deputy President of the Committee Savias Orfanidou.
Mrs Orfanidou said that in Cyprus autologous transplants are performed (graft received by the patient himself) while for allogeneic transplants (taking a graft from another patient) patients go abroad. As she said, every year 40 patients need a transplant and on average they are paid by the state about €150,000 per year, while in some cases much more is needed ranging from half a million to one million euros.
"The cost is greater when we also talk about the support of their families," he said, adding that "for this reason this study will show whether it is in the interest of the state that transplants should be done in Cyprus and not abroad, but mainly to address these psychological, social and practical problems that are created in families and patients who suffer for many months abroad."
AKEL MP Marina Nikolaou described the whole issue as extremely important, adding that she expects the written commitment of the Ministry of Health to the preparation of the study.
She said he called for consideration to be given to whether existing structures of the state should be strengthened so that they can provide this kind of services to citizens and at the same time to make Cyprus, in a possible scenario of implementation of this project, a centre for the concession of this service in other countries as well.
She also noted that in the context of the discussion, she raised the constant request of AKEL for the support of the families of all those who are forced to go abroad to receive this kind of treatment.
"It is unacceptable for a state, which wants to be called modern, families to fall apart economically because one of their members needs to go abroad to receive the treatment that we must give as a state " she concluded.
On behalf of the DIKO, the party's MP, Chrysanthos Savvidis, said that the party is in favour of the creation of the centre for the transplantation of allogeneic grafts, as there is a prospect of saving money and reducing the suffering of patients, who are obliged to be transferred abroad.
"So the creation of this centre is a sine qua non - very useful for Cyprus but the appropriate research should be done," he said.
EDEK MP Andreas Apostolou described the whole project as important and suggested that the recently established national committee for cancer and other experts should be utilized, "so that the quality of the services provided is as high as that given abroad or the services currently given in Cyprus".
He also described it as very important that the state, in addition to the costs of the patient's transplantation, financially supports the costs of transportation, accommodation and food of the patient and his escort, saying that it has sent a relevant letter to the Minister of Health.
"We will wait for these studies and it will be desirable if we can as a Republic of Cyprus provide these services to Cypriot patients but not only them. Cyprus can become a centre of excellence in the wider region and provide as many services as possible in our country," he concluded.
Canopies for chemotherapy
In addition, the Commission discussed a bill to amend the law on private hospitals, which, according to Mrs Orfanidou, concerns the elimination of the need to create units for oncology and chemotherapy issues so that some clinics that do not have the money to create these clinics in their own centres can cooperate with other centres since there are nine such centres in the private sector that provide these services.
In this way, he added, we ensure that all patients can be better served, but at the same time there will be great savings in the resources of the state because we will be able to create economies of scale and be able to better serve the patient.
Regarding the concerns regarding the safety of medicines during the process of their transportation, Ms Orphanidou said that the Commission requested that the protocols and specifications and other forms be submitted, "which will allay these concerns, so that we can proceed with the passage of the legislation".
On the same issue, Mrs. Nikolaou mentioned that AKEL expressed some concerns and asked for the committee to be given practices, which are applied in other EU countries and the obligations that doctors or hospitals will have.
"What has become clear on behalf of AKEL is that we will not and are not in the mood to consent to the naming of an oncology clinic, which will be without infrastructure, equipment, properly trained staff and medical oncologists," he said.
Finally, Mr. Savvidis mentioned that DIKO is in favour of bills that reduce the suffering of patients suffering from cancer, expressing however reservations and concerns regarding the proper transportation and preservation of medicines.
"Our firm position is to avoid inconvenience to patients while ensuring the provision of high quality medical services," he concluded.
