Improved care for adults with disabilities

The council of ministers on Tuesday gave the green light for the creation of five round-the-clock care units for adults with disabilities.

Deputy minister for social welfare Marilena Evangelou explained that the proposal, tabled by her deputy ministry, envisions the construction of five 24-hour care centres for adults with disabilities.

The facilities will be financed through the government’s recovery and resilience scheme. They will be built by the Cyprus Land Development Corporation (Koag) and purchased by the department of social integration of persons with disabilities.

Two of them are projected to be built in Kokkinotrimithia and three in Polemidia.

“The goal is to create small structures so as to accommodate as few people as possible to avoid institutionalisation, and to provide quality services that will promote their integration into society,” the deputy minister said.

She added that this decision falls within the framework of the policy regarding people with disabilities, aiming at strengthening existing 24-hour-care structures as well as assisted living in a safe and quality environment to reassure every parent of a disabled person about their fate after reaching adulthood.

“I should point out that dozens of 24-hour care structures and individualised programmes are already operating,” Evangelou added, stressing that “nevertheless, we acknowledge that there are increased needs, which calls for the increase of such structures”.

Asked about construction schedules for the proposed buildings, the deputy minister said that construction has been assigned to Koag, and will be completed before the end of the recovery and resilience plan in June 2026.