2020 Cyprus Country Report
The 2020 Cyprus Country Report features in-depth articles on the economy, foreign direct investment, international trade and headquartering as well as detailed sector profiles and insights from Cyprus’ 100 most influential political, economic and business leaders shaping the future of their country and its industries.
The 2020 Cyprus Country Report features in-depth articles on the economy, foreign direct investment, international trade and headquartering as well as detailed sector profiles and insights from Cyprus’ 100 most influential political, economic and business leaders shaping the future of their country and its industries.
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Having managed to<br />
bring to <strong>Cyprus</strong>’<br />
citizens a health system<br />
that gives universal and<br />
equal health coverage,<br />
we are now moving on<br />
to a holistic approach<br />
of healthcare via other<br />
major reforms. In the<br />
fight against cancer,<br />
<strong>Cyprus</strong> fully aligns<br />
with the EU strategy.<br />
The five pillars of the<br />
National Cancer Strategy<br />
allow us to provide a<br />
comprehensive treatment<br />
protocol, thus putting<br />
cancer patients in the<br />
centre of our attention.<br />
We aspire to achieve<br />
this, inter alia, through<br />
the establishment of<br />
the National Cancer<br />
Institute. Moreover,<br />
apart from normalising<br />
the new health system,<br />
we take actions to<br />
encourage investments<br />
in healthcare sector, in<br />
areas such as e-health,<br />
medical tourism,<br />
rehabilitation services,<br />
medical schools and<br />
pharmaceutical services.<br />
Constantinos Ioannou<br />
Minister of Health<br />
and carrying out some of the highest test rates<br />
in the world. Compared to many of its European<br />
counterparts, <strong>Cyprus</strong> fared much better with<br />
around 2% fatality rate, the lowest compared to<br />
Greece, UK, Germany, Spain and Italy. <strong>Cyprus</strong><br />
had roughly a similar number of resources, compared<br />
to Italy and Spain.<br />
The island’s efforts were praised by the<br />
European Centre for Disease Prevention and<br />
Control while doctors from both the public and<br />
private sector joined forces to fight the spread<br />
of virus. Patients from <strong>Cyprus</strong> also took part in<br />
a global trial of Japanese antiviral influenza drug<br />
Avigan (favipiravir) while the governments of<br />
<strong>Cyprus</strong> and Israel worked together sharing expertise<br />
and training methods. Renowned <strong>Cyprus</strong>based<br />
pharmaceutical manufacturer Remedica,<br />
imported five tons of chloroquine from India to<br />
be processed and subsequently sent to Israel in<br />
return for 50 ventilators.<br />
A vaccine is expected to be available by<br />
January 2021, which will be made available for<br />
free by the government, according to the Health<br />
Ministry. The government has specified it will<br />
need 1.2 million vaccines. <strong>Cyprus</strong> has dealt significantly<br />
better with the pandemic than other<br />
countries, as a result of the early adoption of<br />
measures and the lower density of its population.<br />
THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM<br />
The roll-out of the new NHS has been a painstaking<br />
yet crucial task in bringing <strong>Cyprus</strong> on<br />
par with its European peers in terms of public<br />
healthcare. The first phase concerning outpatient<br />
care provided by GPs, specialist doctors, pharmacies<br />
and labs was introduced in June 2019, while<br />
phase two concerning inpatient care was rolled<br />
out a year after that in June <strong>2020</strong>. Two bodies<br />
have been set up in a bid to allow the NHS to<br />
materialise. The Health Insurance Organisation<br />
(HIO) – known locally as GESY, which is tasked<br />
with reimbursing healthcare expenses including<br />
pharmaceuticals and the State Health Services<br />
Organisation (SHSO), which will be responsible<br />
for the management, control, supervision and<br />
development of public hospitals and primary<br />
healthcare centres.<br />
The NHS was expected to have a surplus of<br />
€80 million in <strong>2020</strong> after a year of operations,<br />
though the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic may<br />
further increase the €969.6 million forecasted<br />
expenses. One of the many advantages the comprehensive<br />
NHS has brought about, is reduced<br />
waiting lists which have plagued the sector for<br />
years. The passing of the NHS bills in 2017 was<br />
an enormous victory for the government of<br />
President Nicos Anastasiades, who has likened<br />
this major development in the health sector to the<br />
adoption and introduction of the social insurance<br />
system in the 1960s.<br />
Health services in the public sector are provided<br />
by five district hospitals and one paediatric/<br />
gynaecological hospital, three small rural hospitals<br />
and 38 health centres, along with 230 subcentres<br />
with a touring medical team. Additionally,<br />
the Ministry implements a sponsored patients’<br />
abroad scheme under specific conditions and<br />
terms. Substantial investment in the state sector<br />
has meant that procedures such as kidney transplants<br />
and open-heart surgery, which once necessitated<br />
a journey overseas, are now routinely<br />
carried out within <strong>Cyprus</strong>. The private system is<br />
financed mostly by out-of-pocket payments and<br />
to some degree by voluntary health insurance<br />
(VHI). It largely consists of independent providers,<br />
and facilities are often physician-owned or<br />
private companies in which doctors are usually<br />
shareholders.<br />
ADOPTING TECH SOLUTIONS<br />
Part of its ambitious plans to upgrade the health<br />
sector, the Health Ministry is focused on digitising<br />
medical provision and developing an integrated<br />
e-health monitoring system. This involves<br />
the introduction of digitised health records, the<br />
expansion of medical services to remote areas<br />
via telemedicine and robotics, and access to international<br />
medical data banks. Also part of this<br />
evolution is to take actions to encourage further<br />
investments in areas such as e-health, medical<br />
tourism, rehabilitation services, medical schools<br />
and pharmaceutical services. A key organisation<br />
supporting investors and encouraging FDI is<br />
also the country’s investment promotion agency<br />
Invest <strong>Cyprus</strong>, who acts as the first point of<br />
contact for foreign investors looking to enter into<br />
the Cypriot market.<br />
Meanwhile, the advantages of blockchain<br />
technology have become obvious to the health<br />
sector with Mediterranean Hospital adopting<br />
a <strong>Cyprus</strong>-made blockchain. The first phase has<br />
already been implemented in the emergency department<br />
with blockchain-enabled medical data<br />
management. It allows patients to have a digital<br />
healthcare passport and an encrypted NFC card<br />
which allows patients to automatically identify<br />
themselves at the registration desk, check<br />
their queue using their mobile device and safely<br />
manage their medical records. Using blockchain<br />
allows hospitals to collect data on their efficiency<br />
and as such, the global healthcare market spending<br />
and investment on blockchain-based technologies<br />
is expected to hit $5.61 billion by 2025<br />
according to a report by BIS Research.<br />
Only a few weeks after the Covid-19 pandemic<br />
reached the island, top health and technology<br />
Sector Profile<br />
<strong>Country</strong> <strong>Report</strong> CYPRUS <strong>2020</strong> 93