Newsroom
A recent case involving a 38-year-old patient who missed a critical transplant opportunity has reignited public concern over how Cyprus handles emergency medical transfers abroad.
According to the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO), the patient was notified late in the evening of 2 February that a compatible transplant had been located in Athens. He was instructed to travel immediately to Greece so the procedure could be carried out without delay. Medical sources emphasized that finding a suitable organ match is rare and time-sensitive, comparing it to a stroke of extraordinary luck.
Plans were reportedly made for the patient to be taken by ambulance to Larnaca Airport and then flown to Athens via an air ambulance service. However, no aircraft could be secured within the limited timeframe, and the transfer did not take place. As a result, the transplant was lost.
The patient was required to arrive at a hospital in Athens by 3:00 a.m. in order to complete mandatory pre-surgery examinations, allowing the transplant process to begin later that same morning. The HIO said it contacted cooperating flight providers immediately after being informed of the available organ, but the available window, roughly four hours between 11:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m., proved too short to arrange a flight. Efforts to locate a seat on a commercial flight were also unsuccessful, and a request for an extension from the Greek hospital was reportedly denied.
The incident has raised serious questions about whether current procedures allow for rapid enough action in urgent cases. The Ministry of Health’s political supervisor, Neofytos Charalambidis, publicly called for a structured and fully coordinated emergency plan to ensure that all possible transport options are activated immediately when standard arrangements fail.
He suggested the problem appears to be rooted in process and system gaps rather than individual responsibility. Following the incident, the Minister of Health asked the HIO to submit a written plan outlining how similar cases should be managed in the future, including backup options, to prevent a repeat.
The situation has also drawn attention to recent administrative changes. Until recently, the responsibility for organizing overseas patient transfers rested with the Ministry of Health and had not been associated with major problems. In 2025, however, the service was transferred to the Health Insurance Organisation as part of a political decision, an adjustment now being scrutinized in light of the latest case.
