Filenews 27 May 2022 - by Marilena Panagi
At least two people every day in Cyprus die from heart attack or stroke. In the therapeutic part, as far as heart attacks are concerned, the level of services is judged to be quite high, but not in terms of strokes. In prevention and especially in the field of prevention with the administration of new innovative drugs to people who present predisposing factors for heart attacks, Cyprus lags significantly behind, while in rehabilitation, after a stroke, the data are rather disappointing.
"There are innovative therapies, there are medicines available that doctors can administer to their patients to prevent, for example, a heart attack, if there are predisposing factors, but unfortunately these drugs are not included in the GHS, they are very expensive and not all citizens can buy them and if they cannot, then the time-consuming procedures of the committees of the Ministry of Health must be followed, with all that that entails."
The position of the representatives of the Society of Cardiology at yesterday's meeting of the Health Committee of the Parliament was clear, with the doctors stressing at the same time the need to record all the information that can be extracted from the GHS software and concern people with cardiovascular diseases, people with predisposition and the heart attacks recorded every year in Cyprus. As far as the treatment of heart attacks is concerned, reference was made to the interventional cardiology laboratories, which operate in public and private hospitals and mainly with regard to the CySEC since 2013 and have contributed significantly to the improvement of the data recorded by Cyprus.
The positions of neurologists on strokes are also of great importance, with Professor George Hadjigeorgiou stressing the need for the creation of a specialized stroke centre in Nicosia, a unit in Limassol and other specialized clinics in the rest of the provinces.
Strokes, the strokes association said in a memorandum, are expected to increase by 34% by 2035. It is estimated that 45% of deaths in Cyprus will come from a stroke and 25% of survivors live with permanent long-term effects of the stroke. In real numbers, it is estimated that in Cyprus every year according to the data of the state hospitals, around 1,400 cases are recorded.
The Parliamentary Health Committee was discussing the need to draw up a national strategy to reduce heart attacks and strokes. Health ministry spokeswoman Olga Kalakouta said that the ministry is currently implementing strategies for smoking, diabetes, exercise related to the prevention of heart attacks and strokes. However, as he said, the effort to prepare a comprehensive specialized strategy has not yet begun although it is planned to be done very soon.
On behalf of the HIO, Monica Kyriacou mentioned that the Organization is willing to provide any data available in the GHS's software system and pointed out that the HIO and the Ministry of Health are participating in a European program concerning the clinical route of strokes, which aims to record the current situation and the gaps that currently exist in the management of strokes in Cyprus.
On the part of all the doctors who participated in yesterday's meeting on both heart attacks and strokes, the need to emphasize the need to emphasize the triptych "prevention, treatment, rehabilitation" was stressed.
As far as rehabilitation is concerned, in fact, the doctors and the representatives of the competent Associations argued that the data in Cyprus are currently at levels that can be accepted. Moreover, the rehabilitation services have not yet been included in the GHS, since, among other things, the bill that had been prepared and concerns the operation of specialized rehabilitation centres, has not yet been voted by the Parliament.
"If I wasn't with people I would die"
"Every second that passes after the stroke, a million brain cells are lost," said Professor Hadjigeorgiou, while the presence of a patient, who at the age of 27 experienced such an episode, was catalytic since her case is an example of what can be achieved if there is timely intervention in such incidents.
"I'm Alexia, I had a stroke when I was 27 when I was at work. I remember being conscious but couldn't speak. I was trapped in my body. If I wasn't at work, there would be others around me to call immediately for help, and I was alone at home, I would die."
Alexia, now 35, is still undergoing rehabilitation treatments. But he is one of the people who have survived after a stroke.
