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First of all, I would like to thank you warmly for your participation in today's Press Conference.
Today marks the completion of a long journey through which we have gained valuable expertise and training in the framework of the EU-funded project "Capacity Planning in the health sector in Cyprus". Through this effort, we have laid solid foundations for the implementation of the reform programme of the Ministry of Health, responding to the new challenges brought about by the implementation of the General Health Plan and those that will be brought about by the promoted autonomy of public hospitals.
The Ministry of Health is called upon to exercise an effective, supervisory and regulatory role, ensuring the uninterrupted provision of quality health services within the capabilities of the health sector, but also maintaining this sector
The development of coherent strategic planning and actions in health matters must irrevocably be based on mechanisms that ensure systematic monitoring, recording and evaluation of both the effectiveness and efficiency of the health services provided and the health needs of the population. Therefore, to assess these, it is important to establish specific procedures, assessment tools and mechanisms for the collection, analysis and interpretation of data and information for surveillance and diagnosis of health threats.
This objective is now made more accessible with the completion of the technical assistance for the project "Capacity Planning. Capacity Planning is a process that aims to assess and plan in a timely manner the capacity of the health system to respond effectively and efficiently to the current and future health needs of the population, ensuring that the required resources are adequate. The process helps to map supply and demand, identifies gaps and mismatches, promoting informed decision making for the design and delivery of services that will improve the quality of health care delivery.
The systematic inventory of human resources in health professionals, their training and organisation, equipment and facilities infrastructure, health indicators and system efficiency and health needs, allows the development of targeted actions To this end, the Ministry of Health is proceeding with the staffing of functional units on issues of supervision and planning needs and capacities, along with the submission of a proposal for further technical support through Technical Support (TSI) on these issues, including the reassessment and redefinition of the health service delivery model.
Currently, health care is heavily dependent on secondary hospital care, and the Ministry aspires to move towards a more community/primary care based model and more generally on prevention issues, given the ever increasing rate of population ageing and the worsening prevalence of chronic diseases and risk factors such as diabetes, childhood obesity and smoking.
The Ministry of Health, within the framework of the programme of the President of the Republic, Mr. Nicos Christodoulides, has done its own introspection and with a sense of responsibility towards the Cypriot Citizen, it actively declares its will to strengthen its role in the design and promotion of health policies and the systematic assessment of our capacity as a State to address the challenges in the field of health.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the European Commission for being a constant ally and companion in our efforts, NI-CO experts Fiona Coyle, Colin Donaghy and Mr. Mario Nava, Director General of the EU's Directorate General for Structural Reform (DG Reform), for their valuable technical support, Dr Olga Kalakouta for coordinating and guiding the whole project, the members and leaders of the working groups of each Pillar of the project and the stakeholders whose contributions were crucial to the completion of this effort.
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