The World Health Organization (WHO) fully supports Cyprus’ reforms in the health sector, Zsuzsanna Jakab, the WHO Regional Director for Europe, said on Tuesday.
Speakign in the margins of a two-day seminar, in Nicosia, on “Policy Dialogue on Health System and Public Health Reform in Cyprus”, Jakab congratulated the country for introducing relevant laws, aiming to establish a General Health Scheme.
She noted in particular Nicosia’s predilection for a universal health care coverage and said she was extremely pleased that Cyprus selected the single-payer system approach. This is “the right way to go” according to Jakab, who expressed full support on the part of the WHO.
During the seminar, in the presence of Health Ministers of Cyprus and Greece, George Pamborides and Andreas Xanthos respectively, the WHO Regional Director also noted that patients’ direct out-of-pocket payments for health in Cyprus make up 49% of total health expenditure, a percentage far above the 15% threshold that evidence suggests is a safe level.
Addressing the same event, Pamborides thanked the WHO for “being so clear on the point that only a single-payer system can function in Cyprus, as the numbers stand at the moment”.
He revealed that in the beginning of his tenure, he was confronted with the “pseudo dilemma” of having to choose between the single-payer and multi-payer systems and turned for advice to WHO and Dr. Jakab.
According to Pamborides “this was never an issue at the WHO” and there was never “any substantive discussion about whether there should be a single-payer system or not”. He added that the WHO was in favor of a single-payer system in Cyprus and sent its position on a single-page document to Pamborides.
The Minister said he chose not to publish the document because he “didn’t want to give rise to a fruitless and pointless discussion”, but will do so after finishing his appointment at the Ministry of Health.
From his part, Greece’s Health Minister praised the “excellent level of communication and cooperation” he maintains with his Cypriot counterpart and said that their two countries have a key role in promoting the idea of a joint bargaining front in Southern Europe, in order to secure affordable and sustainable prices when negotiating with pharmaceutical companies.
Xanthos also said that 18 thousand doctors left Greece during the crisis, to work abroad, and noted that the government is trying to bring back a portion of them by supporting research, education and the public health sector.
During his intervention, Xanthos also described the dire situation of the health care sector in Greece, following the financial crisis and referred to government efforts to restore accessibility to the system by the uninsured.
The seminar, which concludes on Wednesday, will be addressed by professors and experts in the health care sector.
