Cyprus spent over €200m on covid healthcare

Cyprus has spent over €200 million in tackling Covid-19 since 2020 to date, Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela said on Monday. Presenting his ministry’s budget at the House finance committee, he outlined a five per cent increase for 2023 compared to the previous year, totaling €1.1 billion.

Explaining the Covid-19 expenditure, Hadjipantela said a majority went towards acquiring vaccines and medicine to fight the pandemic, as well as purchasing rapid tests and services to carry out both rapid and PCR tests.

Services purchased from private hospitals to nurse covid patients and help post-covid patients, also took up a share of the €200 million spent by the state to deal with the pandemic. Without delving into details, the minister said working with the permanent secretary’s guidance translated into €10.1 million in savings.

According to Hadjipantela, since the onset of the vaccination programme, 1.8 million doses have been distributed to members of the public.

Explaining the budget for 2023, the minister said it amounted to 11 per cent of the state’s total budget, which is similar to the past two years. Development aspects of the budget relate to the recovery and resiliency plan which amount to €17.6 million. A new state lab will be built, while regular budget expenses amount to €1.1 million and development expenses to €7.2 million.

Revenue from the budget is expected at €293 million, of which €266 million relates to the remuneration of staff, who are seconded to the State Health Services Organisation (Okypy).

The core goals for 2023 – 2025 for the health ministry include restructuring Cyprus’ health system, improving e-Health and improving health and prevention for all stages of life.

Hadjipantela also said he was concerned on abuses surrounding the national healthcare scheme (Gesy). “The problem has not been solved” though the health insurance organisation (HIO) has taken steps in the right direction, he added.

Responding to questions from MPs, he said doctors from the UK would be arriving in Cyprus to assess the state health organisation (Okypy) premises and decide whether a hepatology clinic could be setup in Cyprus.

Talks are also planned to create an ER for children before May 2023, he said. There are also plans to include another 200 medicines in Gesy under the same May 2023 timeframe he added.