Parliament is to prepare a “good practice manual” for the media, which will outline “good practices and appropriate vocabulary” regarding media reporting on diseases and people who have them.

The manual’s aim will be to “avoid stigmatisation” and “break down taboos regarding people who face problems with chronic diseases, especially cancer patients”.

The matter was discussed at Monday’s meeting of the House human rights committee, with committee chairwoman and Akel MP Irene Charalambides saying she will prepare a resolution and put it down on the house floor, with the aim of raising awareness of the matter.

She said that once the bill has been introduced, “if a journalist continues to speak or write with inappropriate vocabulary, the public, who will now be informed, will stigmatise [the journalist]”.

“Internationally, there are codes of ethics, guidelines for the media in relation to the way they cover health issues, especially in cases regarding chronic diseases,” she said, adding that such guidelines “aim to protect dignity, avoid stigma, provide accurate and responsible information, and follow international guidelines”.

She then made reference to “cliched phrases” or “misused phrases”, which she said are often used by journalists in reference to people with chronic diseases or cancer.

“When a cancer patient is fighting to manage their daily lives, the last thing they need is to see headlines in the media which will push them back. This is unacceptable,” she said.

Examples of unacceptable phrases, according to Charalambides, include “he lost his battle with cancer” and “he won his battle with cancer”. She said both of these phrases “ring alarm bells” for people with cancer.

In addition, she said, the media “cannot focus on phrases which cause negativity”, including “suffers from”, while phrases such as “cancer patients” and “diabetics” are also beyond the pale, with those deemed to “be used as identity labels” and thus “diminish the person who loses their personal identity”.

Federation of Cyprus patients’ associations (Osak) secretary Marios Charalambides described the matter as a “sensitive issue”.

“We raised issues so that there is the right direction for all those who wish to express opinions, raise issues, so that patients receive the right messages and in no case is a climate created which either causes unnecessary additional concerns, or fear,” he said.

Of the manual itself, he said, “there is a way, there are things which can be done to improve the situation, and we are certainly not at the point at which we were 15 years ago”, before referencing terms he finds to be unacceptable.

Terms such as “chronic disease” and “incurable disease”, he said, “do not send the right messages, nor are they scientifically substantiated”.

Spokeswoman for the Cyprus association of cancer patients and friends (Pasykaf) Georgia Orphanou criticised those who engage in “toxic positivity”, saying that there is an “excessive focus on always being optimistic”.

As such, she criticised phrases such as “you must always think positively” and “hero”, saying they “deprive patients and their loved ones of the opportunity to express their difficult feelings”.

“The real power lies not in the pressure for optimism, but in positive actions,” she added.

University of Nicosia journalism professor George Pavlides reassured attendees that there is “no bad intention on the part of journalists” but said there is “a mechanical reproduction of some stereotypes … which they must eliminate”.

He called on journalists to “exercise critical thinking” and added that journalists “must be properly trained”.

“The Cypriot code of ethics … and all the references made in international conventions for the media call on journalists to be particularly discreet in the way in which they present issues which exacerbate pain and sadness, and much more so in issues related to health,” he said.

“Woe betide us if there are no journalistic messages concerning diseases such as cancer and other chronic diseases in a way which is ethically correct, and at the same time conveys the right message.”

Union of Cyprus journalists chairman Giorgos Frangos stressed that journalists “have a degree of independence on primary sources of information”.

“When you receive a bulletin which focuses on statistics … how should you handle it? The perspective you give is important. The correct perspective is not only the journalist’s responsibility but is also the responsibility of the person who initially produces the informational material,” he said.

Disy MP Rita Superman said that “the mechanical reproduction of stereotypes by the media, for all chronic diseases, reflects the perceptions and behaviours of our society”.

As such, she called on stakeholders to “promote the appropriate information and training so that ethically correct messages are formulated”.

MP Alexandra Attalides, who belongs to Volt, said it is “right” to create a new code of ethics on the matter, “so that coverage encourages people who have to deal with an illness” and “gives them hope … without stigmatising other sectors with the name of an illness”.