The crisis generated by the pandemic has shown the criticalities of the healthcare sector, necessitating a different, more efficient and effective approach to improve its services.
The Republic of Cyprus, as of 2019, had already implemented policies to boost the national GHS (General Healthcare System), following an official criticism from the Health Insurance Organisation, the agency in charge of the GHS funds, which had denounced the delay in the reorganisation of public hospitals, to the extent that they had been forced to send patients abroad (UK, Germany, Greece and Israel) due to the lack of centres capable of providing the necessary healthcare treatment.
The Cypriot RRP has allocated (Axis1) €74.1 million (6% of the budget) for Public Health and, in Component 1.1, has planned 3 reforms and 7 investments for a radical innovation of the national health system, through the creation of new facilities, the purchase of state-of-the-art technological equipment, the digital innovation of the GHS, the modernisation of state hospitals. All these actions aim at achieving the efficiency levels of international standards.
The drive to develop modern computerisation systems is part of a complex process and moves together with the creation of integrated hospital facilities and infrastructure in order to provide a high quality of health services in Cyprus.
In order to achieve the modernisation in a short period of time, there is a clear need to include domestic and foreign private initiatives to carry out projects, after analyzing the general situation of the Cypriot National Health Service, that can also involve Italian investors for the construction of a hospital facility in Nicosia.
It is clear how much the negative impact of the pandemic has affected the Cypriot health sector, which was not already prosperous. In fact, in Cyprus there are 8 public hospitals and 73 private hospitals, which account for 60% and 47% of the beds respectively.
Analysing an average age of the population and the projected longevity of the Cypriot population, it is clear that it requires an implementation of health services.
The creation of new hospitals could provide new beds for emergency care and rehabilitation; moreover, the facility can provided outpatient rooms, laboratories and new departments, to respond, among others, for the needs of radiology and specialised surgery.
In this field, the Italian-Cypriot Chamber of Commerce is at work on the creation of a consortium that involves important Italian operators to invest in a specific project.
Moreover, the Chamber of Commerce is working to create fruitful cooperation, supporting development initiatives in the health sector and acting as a point of reference for contacts and information. The Chamber’s efforts in this field included the organisation of two important events: the 4th Cypriot-Italian Business Forum (29th September 2021), where, among other topics, was discussed ‘Health: Innovation in Health Sector”; the 2nd Cypriot-Italian Health Industry Forum (1st December 2021), was another opportunity for stakeholders in the sector, which, as stated by President Giuseppe Marino, “gave a step forward to collaborations between Italian and Cypriot companies in the field of Innovations in Healthcare, highlighting models of excellence”.
The Healthcare sector is wide and complex, it needs interactions, cooperation, skills and project. It is an important business for the economic and social progress, and never as in this moment the Italy-Cyprus cooperation can lead to excellent results.
For further insights and information regarding the activities of the Italian-Cypriot Chamber of Commerce: segreteria@camcomitacipro.it
Last modified: March 2, 2022