Newsroom
A 38-year-old patient lost the chance to receive a transplant because Cyprus could not secure a plane to take him to Athens in time.
The case has brought a painful reality back into focus: when urgent treatment is not available on the island, reaching a hospital abroad can depend not only on medical approval, but also on whether suitable transport can be found quickly enough.
The incident has prompted renewed discussion over how Cyprus arranges overseas treatment for patients and how financial support is provided to those accompanying them.
Until recently, the Health Ministry handled the process of sending patients abroad. No major problems had been reported in recent years, but responsibility was transferred to the Health Insurance Organization, or HIO, following a political decision in 2025.
House Health Committee chair Savia Orphanidou has now registered the issue for discussion in Parliament, calling for all the authorities involved to examine the system’s continuing weaknesses and agree on solutions.
Speaking on SPOR FM 95.0, Orphanidou acknowledged the efforts made by both the HIO and the Health Ministry. However, she said several practical problems remain unresolved.
These include difficulties faced by patients whose overseas treatment was originally approved by the ministry and who must now return abroad to continue it.
Concerns have also been raised over delays in providing financial assistance to patients and their companions, as well as the approval process for entering the support scheme.
Orphanidou stressed that the parliamentary discussion is not intended to become another exercise in trading blame. Its purpose, she said, is to improve the system and prevent patients from being placed in the same position again.
But the most urgent question is transport.
Cyprus does not have a permanently available, properly equipped aircraft for emergency medical evacuations. That leaves critically ill patients dependent on arrangements being made when every hour, and sometimes every minute, counts.
President Nikos Christodoulides previously offered the presidential aircraft for overseas medical transfers. In practice, however, converting a government plane into an air ambulance is not as simple as clearing a few seats.
An aircraft carrying a critically ill patient must be fitted with specialized medical equipment, adapted for the patient’s condition and staffed by an appropriate medical team.
