The government is “committed” to strengthening Cyprus’ public health system, Health Minister Michael Damianos said on Monday.

Damianos was speaking at a formal signing ceremony of a new memorandum of understanding between the health ministry, the state health services organisation (Okypy), and the finance ministry which, he said, charts the monitoring of the government’s action plan to “ensure Okypy’s financial and administrative autonomy”.

The memorandum of understanding had been initially agreed in November, with Damianos explaining at the time that it has “five thematic axes”, all of which are planned to be implemented between now and the end of 2026.

Okypy, he said, will be legally obliged to implement the plan’s stipulations, which include an increase in revenue, a reduction of costs, the reimbursement of services provided by the health insurers’ organisation (HIO), capital investments, and structural changes.

Okypy spokesman Charalambos Charilaou told the Cyprus Mail that while detailed plans have been devised to achieve these aims, they cannot be disclosed.

Damianos said his ministry and Okypy have set up working groups to monitor the deal’s implementation.

In return, Okypy’s budget deficit will be covered by the government until May 31, though Damianos said the plan will continue to be implemented until the end of 2026 regardless of any situation regarding the budget deficit.

Elaborating further on Monday, Damianos said all parties have now “agreed on the working groups, which will oversee how the memorandum and the action plan are going so that we manage to reach the agreed timelines”.

The action plan is there to move towards autonomy for Okypy, which is why we have mentioned that the aces of action have to do with increasing revenues, reducing expenses, and so on, so as to help the organisation get where it needs to be. That is why the memorandum was made, anyway,” he said.