Filenews 22 February 2026 by Andrea Laou
It was around a year ago, when during the commemorative event organized on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the death of Dr. Americos Argyriou, on February 18, 2025, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, recognized the Center for Preventive Paediatrics "America Argyriou" as a Center of Reference of the Republic. The emotion of that night was indescribable for all of us who work for the Organization but also for those who worked before us.
Nine months later, on November 20, 2025, the House of Representatives voted in favour of the bill proposed by MP Fotini Tsiridou, through which the organized implementation of prenatal and neonatal screening programs is institutionalized. This is a historic event as the state, four decades after the start of offering these programs by the Center for Preventive Paediatrics, now assumes responsibility and must draw up a policy regarding their implementation.
Despite any obstacles that may arise in the course of the institutionalization of the organization, we are convinced that in close cooperation with all the competent services, these will be overcome. And this is because the recognition for the Center for Preventive Paediatrics "Americos Argyriou" has already been won through decades of tangible contribution and uninterrupted coverage of the population of Cyprus.
The Center for Preventive Paediatrics "Americos Argyriou" (KPP) is the only organization in Cyprus that is active exclusively with prevention and in particular prevention achieved through population screening programs of preventive paediatrics. A fundamental principle for a screening programme to be classified as population-based is access by the entire target population (pregnant women and newborns in the case of the MIC). For this very reason, the Center's services, which as public health programs are not subsidized by the HIO, continue to be offered free of charge to the entire population.
Prenatal and neonatal screening programmes are strongly supported by the international and European legal and institutional framework as essential elements of the right to health. The United Nations, through binding treaties such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 12) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, recognizes the obligation of states to reduce infant mortality and ensure access to preventive health services, thus providing a clear legal basis for prenatal and neonatal screening programs. The World Health Organization, relying on its Charter that enshrines the right to the highest possible standard of health, has repeatedly stressed the importance of early diagnosis, maternal care and newborn health as fundamental pillars of effective health systems. At European level, the European Union has further strengthened this position through the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Article 35 on the right to healthcare and Article 36 on access to services of general economic interest), as well as through Council Recommendations on the promotion of public health, encouraging Member States to implement in an organised manner, population screening programmes as part of prevention strategies. Overall, these international commitments do not treat prenatal and neonatal screening as a mere political choice, but as an integral part of the legal and moral obligation of states to ensure the well-being of citizens from the earliest stages of life.
The funding of the Center is a primary capital for the progress of the implementation of the programs. Since the state contribution covers less than 50% of the annual budget expenses, the Board of Directors, in cooperation with the Administration and the Association of Friends of the Center, carry out continuous actions and networking updates in order to gather the required resources. Few are also aware that, in the context of the provision of the screening programmes, the Centre bears the full cost of their implementation: the free availability of the files and consumables to the contracted health professionals, the coverage of the cost of transporting blood samples from all parts of Cyprus to its clinical laboratory in Limassol, the provision of system software to which all doctors have access to read the results, rent or secure premises and staff them with the necessary staff so that neonatal hearing tests can be carried out in every province of free Cyprus and so on.
The private nature of the provision of its services, although voluntary, makes the Organization more flexible and ready to face scientific and technological challenges with immediacy and efficiency, with the ultimate goal of the health and well-being of the children of Cyprus. The Center has built a great structure through its excellent cooperation over time with all obstetricians-gynaecologists and paediatricians in Cyprus, ensuring coverage of more than 90% of the total population to which its programs are addressed. Characteristically, in 2025, the following were examined:
1. 9,494 pregnant women as part of the Prenatal Screening Program
2. 9,413 newborns under the Neonatal Screening Screening Program
3. 8,166 newborns under the Neonatal Hearing Screening Program (newborns hospitalized in intensive care units are excluded as different protocols apply in these cases).
In total, more than 290,000 pregnant women participated in the Prenatal Screening Program (induction year 1990), more than 340,000 newborns were examined under the Neonatal Screening Program (induction year 1989), and more than 165,000 newborns underwent a Hearing Screening (Neonatal Hearing Screening Program, induction year 2004).
We can say with absolute certainty that there is no family in Cyprus that, since the 1990s, has not benefited from the screening programs of the Center for Preventive Paediatrics "Americos Argyriou". The majority of those who will receive the services of the MIC will overlook the importance of the contribution of this organization as they will have received a positive result (detection process: the process that identifies in a seemingly healthy population, people who are at high risk of suffering from a disease). For those families where prevention is a lifesaver, the Center becomes a point of reference. And precisely for these lives, it is worthwhile, with consistency and determination, to claim what rightfully belongs to the most precious wealth of a country: its children.
The State, on the other hand, is called upon to stand by the Center and proceed with clear and binding decisions, ensuring that the right of every child to early diagnosis will not be based on the timeless self-sacrifice of a single Organization, but will be based on collective responsibility and joint action towards a better future.
*Andria Laou is the director of the Center for Preventive Paediatrics "Americos Argyriou".
