The patient who had missed their chance for a lung transplant abroad because there was no air transport remains on the waiting list, the federation of patients’ associations (Osak) said on Thursday.

“The health ministry is investigating the case. For now, we don’t know whether the transplant would have been possible even if we had had the necessary means of transport,” Osak director Andreas Christodolou told the Cyprus Mail.

Earlier in the day, Osak had appealed to the health ministry to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident, identify wrongdoings and make the findings public so that necessary changes could be implemented.

“The waiting lists are long, and it’s very tough to find a matching organ for a lung transplant generally,” Christodolou said.

Osak urged that both as an independent state and as an island in particular, Cyprus must ensure that the availability of donor organs is secured via relevant mechanisms, ideally without being “encumbered” by external processes.

The association underscored the seriousness of the case, highlighting that the patient had “lost the opportunity for life”, not for medical reasons but due to “organisational inability”.

Christodolou told the Cyprus Mail that the patient is alive and remains on the waiting list for a matching donor organ.

Due to privacy reasons, Osak could not provide further details on the country in which the transplant should have taken place or how long the patient had been waiting for it.

On Wednesday, the health insurance organisation (HIO) broke the news that a patient had missed the opportunity for a lung transplant abroad because none of the collaborating air carriers was able to carry out the flight.

The incident occurred at 11pm on February 2, when the organisation was informed about a matching donor lung being available abroad.

“Despite the immediate and repeated efforts on behalf of the HIO, none of the collaborating air carriers was able to make the airlift within the specified timeframe of three hours,” the HIO said.

The patient from Cyprus was supposed to be airlifted to the hospital the next day at 3am, however, due to the delay the procedure could not be conducted as planned.

The HIO stressed that the incident could not be attributed to inaction or omission on its part, clarifying that it had handled the logistics in accordance with the protocol implemented for all patients to be sent abroad, and that it was not involved in patient evaluation.

“In cases of potential transplants, the timeframes are determined by strict international clinical and operational constraints, which cannot be modified administratively,” the HIO explained.

Since October 2, 2025, the HIO has sent 198 patients abroad, of which 27 were airlifted and nine involved life-threatening health conditions.