Eight months after the outbreak of the pandemic, hospitals are unprepared
Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 10th November 2020, Nicosia
The government cannot hide behind the individual responsibility of citizens to follow the protection measures. It is first and foremost the responsibility of the state and the government to prepare the public health system to confront the pandemic. It isn’t the individual responsibility of citizens – but of the government and the Health Ministry – that eight months after the outbreak of the pandemic hospitals are unprepared to address the second wave that is underway.
Last May AKEL submitted 18 proposals for the preparation of the state and hospitals. We demanded measures to meet the needs of staff, in consumables and equipment. We called for the creation of intensive care units in all hospitals and an increase in the number of the beds in intensive care units. Furthermore, we called for measures to be implemented to safeguard health professionals, as well as the utilization of the private sector.
- What has been done on all these issues?
- What has happened to the 100 million euros that the government had announced months ago would be allocated to the health sector?
- What preparations have been made all these months?
- What plans did the government make and we got to the point that the free areas of Famagusta district essentially don’t have a hospital to meet the other needs of inhabitants, given that almost the whole of Famagusta Hospital was evacuated to treat patients with coronavirus?
At the same time, during yesterday’s debate in Parliament on the budget of the Ministry of Health, the more profound problems of public hospitals in all the districts, which are collapsing due to the government’s policy, were highlighted.
