The government has failed to invest in health to cope with the pandemic’s second wave
AKEL Famagusta on the General Hospital of Famagusta
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 2nd December 2020, Nicosia
The Famagusta Hospital has been transformed into a Reference Hospital without unfortunately satisfactory solutions being given to cover the population of the area from other diseases. The government has failed to invest in health so that the state can cope with the second wave of the pandemic. It has failed to adequately staff the Famagusta Hospital, to invest in new structures so that all specialties do not stop functioning, marking with this move the final closure of Famagusta Hospital.
The Nikos Anastasiades government had eight months before it to prepare a comprehensive operational plan to deal with the pandemic. It is evident from the handlings made that such a preparation did not happen. Suffice it to recall the decision of the Council of Ministers on 15th September 2020, for the completion of work on the 2nd floor of the Hospital and its utilisation as an extension of the Reference Hospital, which was accompanied by a promise the work for its completion would be done by mid-October.
To the many other issues that the Reference Hospital has to face, we can also add the very serious problem faced by the kidney patients of the District. For months, the hospital board has sent a relevant request for the staffing of the dialysis unit, without receiving any response from the state health services OKYPY. Hemodialysis patients are risking their lives every day as there is no adequate coverage by a nephrologist to treat their problems and their transfer to Larnaca Hospital is not allowed because of the pandemic.
The government ruling forces must at long last realize that in the Free Areas of Famagusta there is no other medical centre that can serve the patients of the District, with the result that cases have to be transferred to the Larnaca or Nicosia Hospitals for treatment and hospitalisation, often with enormous dangers because of the distance.
We understand the severity of the pandemic, but Covid is not the only disease and we hope we won’t have to mourn victims of other diseases because of the lack of infrastructures.
AKEL will take a series of initiatives such as registering the issue in Parliament for debate, and arranging a meeting with the Health Minister to resolve the issue and assert the full operation and upgrading of the Famagusta Hospital.
AKEL will with consistency continue to defend the right of all to a quality health system.
