Filenews 15 July 2025 - by Marilena Panagi
Cyprus is at the bottom of the EU in terms of spending on disease prevention while, as the European Commission's report points out, "access to long-term care services in Cyprus is limited, especially for the elderly, with public funding for these services remaining low".
''Cyprus' health system shows room for improvement, particularly in terms of staffing and disease prevention," the European Commission said, noting that "although life expectancy is high, health expenditure remains low compared to the EU average."
Analytically:
- Life expectancy at birth is 82.9 years, above the EU average, but there is a four-year gap between men and women.
- Health expenditure per capita is significantly lower than the EU average, while public expenditure now accounts for 80.9% of total health expenditure.
- The number of hospital beds is low, at 295 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to an average of 444 in the EU.
- Spending on prevention accounts for just 2.5% of total health spending, well below the EU average of 5.5%.
However, what the European Commission says in its report on social protection and citizens' access to long-term care is cause for concern.
"Access to long-term care services in Cyprus is limited, particularly for the elderly, while public funding for these services remains low."
The government, the report states, "is working on reforms to improve the accessibility and affordability of care."
However:
- Only 19.3% of people aged 65+ with severe difficulties have used home care services in the last year.
- Public funding for long-term care is the lowest in the EU, at 4.2% in 2024.
- The proportion of the population aged 65+ in need of long-term care stands at 34.3%, above the EU average.
The lack of long-term care, especially for the elderly and the most vulnerable, has been recorded in the last two years in almost all European and national health reports.
Further, "access to health services in Cyprus is worse than the EU average, particularly in rural areas, despite the fact that health self-perception indicators are better".
- 79.7% of the urban population is within 10 minutes of a hospital, while in rural areas this percentage is limited to only 9.4%.
- The EU averages for transition areas are 97.5% for the urban population and 34.6% for the rural population.
- Health self-perception indicators are better than the EU averages.
