Filenews 11 March 2024
In 2023, a total of 1523 patients were referred abroad for treatment at university clinics and reference centers in Germany, Israel, France, Britain, Belgium, Sweden and Greece, Health Minister Michalis Damianou said tonight.
Addressing the event of the Christina A. Apostolou Foundation – 18 Years of Contribution, "The support of patients going abroad and the responsibility of the State", held in Larnaka, the Minister said that "the presence of the President of the Republic at the event highlights the great importance that the government attaches to volunteerism, especially when it is related to the health sector. The health of citizens is a primary concern of the State and for this purpose the GHS has been formed, which we continue to strengthen and expand".
However, he continued, as a small country, "sometimes we do not have the necessary structures for specialized incidents, nor the number of these incidents to ensure effective treatment here in Cyprus. The state has a duty to offer its citizens the necessary health services, regardless of the structures of the GHS," he said.
In the context of further supporting patients who go abroad for treatment, he continued, "the government intends to cover travel, accommodation and food expenses for patients and their escorts under the Financial Assistance Scheme for Health Services not offered in the Public Sector."
Mr. Damianou described as "particularly complex and often urgent" the handling of cases that cannot be served in Cyprus and that is why "the Subsidized Patients Section operates at the Ministry of Health, supported by the Health Officer, who serves at the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Berlin, under the guidance of the Director General. This Sector works tirelessly day and night without extra pay to help our fellow citizens who need access to this specialized care."
The Subsidized Patients Sector, he said, "possesses the expertise and expertise to deal with these incidents. The urgent nature of the incidents requires immediate and effective response, which is achieved along with equal treatment, transparency and non-discrimination, thanks to the methodical approach of the Director General and the procedures that have been established."
In his address, the Minister of Health referred to the process of sending patients abroad and said that "in 2023 1523 cases were referred, in 2022 1255 cases were referred, in 2021 1000 cases were referred and in 2020, 1014 were referred. These referrals concern university clinics and reference centers in Germany, in Israel mainly for neonatal cardiac surgery and other serious cases and burns, in France and England mainly for liver transplants, in Belgium, Sweden and hospitals in Greece including Onassis for lung transplants.
He also said that "the Ministry of Health has developed a wide and flexible network of partnerships with leading University Reference Hospitals abroad, which is activated for the immediate transfer to these centers of cases that cannot be treated in Cyprus."
Referring to the "decisive role" played by the Christina A. Apostolou Foundation, the Minister noted that "for 18 consecutive years, it has been assisting these disadvantaged families by providing support in various ways. The help of the foundation, for many families, was decisive since it helped our suffering fellow man to have his family by his side in the most difficult moments of his life", he noted.
In her address, the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare Marilena Evangelou said that "the foundation, which has been founded in memory of Christina A. Apostolou, who passed away at the age of 44, after a long and unequal battle with cancer, has more than 2,400 registered friends, with the main goal of financially supporting children and young people with chronic diseases for a better future. The Christina Apostolou Foundation is therefore an important partner and companion of the state in the exercise of social policy," he said.
He added that "through the Foundation, a remarkable work of contribution to our suffering fellow human beings has been achieved. Specifically, the "Christina A. Apostolou Foundation Blood Bank" was founded, establishing awards to the excellent students of the schools she attended, but the most important action of the Foundation is the assistance provided to dozens of children for their treatment in Cyprus and/or abroad and to their families.
As the hon. "To this effort of the Foundation and other bodies, as well as personal requests from citizens, the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare responded with particular sensitivity, exceptionally subsidizing until today patients and their escorts, for the purposes of going abroad for treatment, examination or operations. Specifically, as of 2023, about 85 patient requests have been met with a grant totaling 270,000 euros."
In her address, she also referred to organized volunteerism in Cyprus "supported by the state to provide services, assisting in government work" and noted that "through synergies developed over time by the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare with the Organized Voluntary Movement, we have achieved the improvement of services to meet important social needs, through financial support from state resources or European programs. cooperation and the provision of all support and state supervision, without substituting the role of the State".
Charalambos Papadopoulos, President of the Federation of Patients' Associations (OSAC), in his address stated that "since 2006 the Foundation has been producing multilevel charitable work through various programs and services concerning, among others, the financial support of vulnerable families, the financial support of charitable and charitable institutions and the creation of infrastructure and services that directly target children".
He added that "it is these kinds of actions that not only highlight the necessity of the existence of organizations that act complementary to the services of the state, but strengthen and upgrade their operation, establishing them in the consciousness of society as entities that must be taken seriously."
He also referred to the financial support of chronic patients to receive treatments abroad and noted that "the Foundation, like various other organizations, financially supports families who need to go abroad for medical reasons", referring to cases where families held fundraisers to secure the necessary funds to go abroad for treatment. their own people."
Mr. Papadopoulos also referred to the "issue of the need for financial support and coverage of non-medical expenses that arise in cases where patients and their escorts go abroad to receive medical services" and noted that "as OSAC, we will always seek close and excellent cooperation with the Christina A. Apostolou Foundation, as well as with other organizations that aim to offer charitable work".
The Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the Christina A. Apostolou Foundation, MP Andreas Apostolou said that "the Foundation has responded positively to 462 requests from families to date. A large, timeless gap of the State that non-profit organizations but mainly the families themselves are called upon to undertake, an unfair and unbearable burden, since in the agony and Calvary that these families are climbing, they are forced to climb another economic Calvary", he said and noted that he characterized this gap "as one of the greatest injustices and weaknesses of health and welfare services".
As Mr. Apostolou said "in recent months both in the Ministry of Health and the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare I have found doors open" and thanked both the former Minister of Health, the current Minister, the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare for their support "to the Foundation and to the chronic patients and their families" and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health "for the timeless concern, her anguish and struggles for patients and their families going abroad for treatment."
He also referred to a meeting he had recently with the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Athena Michaelidou with whom they discussed "the issue of the education of children who reside for months or even years abroad for medical reasons".
It is noted that the event was attended by, among others, the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, the Deputy Government Spokesman, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, the District Officer of Larnaka, representatives of Political Parties, Mayors and Community Leaders of the province, representatives of the Police and the National Guard, representative of the Metropolitan of Kition, the President of the Pancyprian Association "One Dream One Wish", the President of the CCCI, Members of Parliament and crowds.
