Filenews 5 January 2026 - by Marilena Panayi
The fact that the new year begins with a new Minister of Health is in itself a challenge for the Health sector. Neophytos Charalambidis is called upon on the one hand to continue the work of the Government and to manage issues that were left open by his predecessor and to promote, on the other hand, his own goals, whatever they may be, which will be judged along the way. In the equation is the fact that the Ministry of Health operates with a deputy general director, after the latest decision of the Council of Ministers.
Since last July, the issue of staffing private hospitals with nursing staff has been pending. On this issue, in fact, although it is not the biggest challenge for the Health sector, different and rather opposing views are recorded among those involved, with private individuals shouting about a lack of staff, the Ministry of Health proposing to close beds due to a shortage of nurses and the unions and other bodies representing nurses claiming that there is a sufficient number of professionals to meet the needs.
The Minister of Health was faced with this issue from the first days of taking office and as scheduled, he will have a new meeting with all those involved in mid-January with the problem being one of the first bets he will be called upon to win.
The biggest bet that the Ministry of Health must win is that of the proper functioning of the institution of the Patient Ombudsman. The setting up of the mechanism that must operate, by law, in order for the institution to really serve its purpose, as everything shows, will not be the easiest task as it requires proper and complete coordination, proper staffing of the Ombudsman's office and the promotion of all procedures without delay.
Of greater importance, of course, for 2026 is the huge issue of the State Health Services Organization and the end of the coverage of its deficits by the state at the end of the year. OKYPY is called upon to prove that it can "walk without crutches" and this must be done by the middle of the summer, when its budget for next year will be prepared. What is certain is that the decision has been taken, it is characterized as final and provides for the termination of the financial support of the Organization by the State on December 31, 2026.
For the Health Insurance Organization, the stakes are much higher as the HIO must proceed with the correction of all the distortions presented by the General Health System in its practical implementation, which should be mentioned, have been identified for at least two years without any special efforts being made to manage them.
The correction of the distortions of the GHS must of course be included in the challenges that the Ministry of Health and the Government in general will have, if of course there is political will to promote the appropriate procedures.
The GHS software and the problems it presents are also another challenge for the HIO, which, if the schedules are met, will be called upon to take over the management of the IT system within the year.
And 2026 a "legislative year?"
Since its inception, 2025 has been designated as a "legislative year" for the Health sector. Indeed, the Ministry of Health continued and almost completed the marathon of preparing bills in which it had entered since 2024, but the bills that were finally passed into law are very few compared to those that remain pending.
Of particular importance is the law establishing the institution of the Patient Ombudsman. The law was passed, the first Patient Ombudsman was appointed but, for the time being, the rest of the procedures are still in their infancy.
At the same time as the law establishing the institution of the Patient Ombudsman, an amendment to the law on the General Health System was passed, based on which the supervision of the GHS was transferred to the Ministry of Health as a result of the abolition of the until then office of the Commissioner for System Supervision.
The law regulating community nursing in Cyprus was also passed. In terms of its substance and practice, the law remains only on paper as, for the time being, it has not helped the development of this sector, beyond the structures that existed before its enactment.
The Parliament passed, in an episodic way, the law regulating the operation of Rehabilitation Centers. The law alone is already provoking reactions from the social partners, especially with regard to its transitional provisions. In fact, it is not excluded that before the end of 2026 an amendment will be submitted to the Parliament, which is considered by many of those involved, to be imperative from the first day of the law's enactment.
With the turn of the year, it seems that 2026 could be described as another "legislative year" for the Health sector as several bills are still pending in Parliament and others in the Ministry of Health. This time, however, nothing can be taken for granted and it is possible that the year that will follow, (2027), will be consumed in passing laws that will continue to be pending.
This is because, until its dissolution for the parliamentary elections, the Parliament has at its disposal a limited number of sessions and as is well known, the parliamentary committees for a long time before each election process, are under-functioning due to the absence of (candidate) MPs.
It is also possible that bills that impose conflicts will be left behind due to the pre-election period and the willingness of the parties to take a position on issues that may affect their relations with specific groups of professionals/individuals/voters.
One such case is the case of the bill regulating the operation of university clinics in Cyprus, which, in any case, is treated with a lot of reservation by a portion of parties.
Next Thursday, however, two bills are scheduled for discussion, one that provides for the operation of radiology centers and the second that concerns the establishment of the National Center for Clinical Documentation. For the second bill, according to information from "F", strong reactions have already arisen and its discussion, in principle, may be postponed to the next meeting of the Committee.
