Tragic government failure to ensure free access to health care

Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Stefanos Stephanou on Eurostat figures regarding the cost of health care in Cyprus

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 25 February 2019, Nicosia

Figures from a Eurostat survey conducted on the cost of health care in Cyprus have given another grim first position to Cyprus and the Anastasiades-DISY government. In addition to topping the table as regards inequality and rising poverty rates, Cyprus also has the highest percentage of households (almost 40%) who are facing very serious difficulties meeting the cost of healthcare. The situation is even more dramatic if one also includes those facing serious difficulties. In this case, the percentage of households exceeds 90%. The Anastasiades-DISY government has driven the health system to the tragic situation it finds itself where nine out of ten households face serious or very serious difficulties in relation to the cost of healthcare.

This picture reveals the government’s tragic failure to ensure free access to health care for all the Republic’s citizens. It also illustrates how necessary it is to at long last implement the National Health Scheme (NHS) that will safeguard the right to access to health – irrespective of the economic capabilities of each person. The government has the enormous responsibility to implement everything that the laws the House of Representatives has approved on the NHS and it must proceed in this direction with determination. It is evident that society cannot take the whole situation anymore.