in-cyprus 12 November 2025 - by Marilena Panayi
A foreign student in Cyprus bled for 12 days after a miscarriage, unable to access medical care until a local woman intervened to help her secure private treatment that may have saved her life.
The student went to a state hospital’s accident and emergency department but was turned away when staff discovered she was not covered by the General Healthcare System (GHS).
Staff demanded €100 upfront for a pathologist to see her and called her “illegal”, according to the local woman who accompanied her.
Private hospitals would not accept her because she lacked GHS coverage, and the health insurance policy she held as a university student did not cover gynaecological services.
Her condition deteriorated, and she developed an infection caused by the delay in receiving medical care. With help from citizens, she eventually secured private services.
“I witnessed racism up close through a story that could have had a tragic ending,” the local woman who helped her told Fileleftheros, recounting step by step what happened in her attempt to help the student.
‘They called her illegal and told me to leave’
“The girl had lost her baby and was bleeding for 12 days with unbearable pain. We went to a state hospital’s emergency department. The girl was in bad condition and couldn’t communicate, so I explained to staff what was happening. As soon as they realised she wasn’t a GHS beneficiary, they refused to examine her unless she paid €100 for a pathologist to see her initially. The staff’s behaviour was offensive, cold and racist. They called her ‘illegal’, and without even asking if she could pay, they told me to take her and leave”.
The student is enrolled at a university in Cyprus, but “no one bothered to look into that. Because she wasn’t a GHS beneficiary, they labelled her illegal,” the woman said.
Infection developed, life threatened
Late the following afternoon, the student’s condition worsened with severe pain and bleeding. The woman contacted her own gynaecologist, a private doctor outside GHS, who saw them as an emergency case at 8.30pm.
After examining her, the doctor informed them there was an infection from embryonic remains and that she needed surgery within 48 hours or her life would be at risk from septicaemia. The doctor was shocked she had not received medical care earlier, according to the woman.
The woman tried to get information about surgery costs from gynaecological clinics in their province.
“Everyone spoke to me politely until the moment I told them it was for a foreign student without GHS. From that point, the tone changed immediately: coldness, irony, rejection. The state hospital completely refused to help me with the simple information I was asking for.”
The surgery was eventually performed privately, with the student paying cash herself.
“It was the only clinic that treated her like a human being, not like an ‘illegal’ or ‘foreigner’. I’m sharing this experience because I believe the racist behaviour this woman faced reflects a deeper, dangerous problem”.
Formal complaint filed
The woman filed a formal complaint with the Patients’ Rights Observatory of the Federation of Patient Associations of Cyprus (CyFPA/OSAK).
“These things certainly shouldn’t happen, and as a patients’ federation, we don’t care whether it involves Cypriots, Europeans or citizens of foreign countries. Patients are patients and rights are the same for everyone,” federation president Charalambos Papadopoulos told Fileleftheros.
“We understand that SHSO has set new fees for non-GHS beneficiaries. However, I think we need to look at what happens when a person is bleeding and we ask them for €100 upfront for an A&E doctor to see them. This is an issue we need to look at very seriously. We will await the organisation’s response before we say more”.
