It is a great honour for me to be invited to address the opening of the 1st Cyprus-Greece Congress co-organised by the Cyprus and Greek Lung Societies.
First of all, I would like to thank and congratulate the organizers who are committed to organize joint conferences in order to exchange experiences and scientific knowledge, to provide a high level of education and valid information for health professionals. The strengthening of relations between the two medical communities as well as the strengthening of the national ties that have united us over time is a catalyst for the aims and objectives of the conference.
The conference covers a wide range of topics of innovative, topical and highly interesting subjects that meet the demands and challenges of today's world. Among them, topics related to respiratory failure, COVID-19 infection, bronchial asthma, respiratory infections and other important issues. The breadth and variety of topics covered by the conference, based on international scientific evidence, and their presentation by renowned physicians, guarantee its success.
I especially thank you, the Pulmonary Specialists, as valuable collaborators, both for your participation in the conference and for the high sense of responsibility you bring towards your patients and towards the national health services, holding the bar of quality, scientific awareness and collegiality.
The Cyprus Pulmonary Society, by promoting the principles of Medical Science, has, in recent years, and especially in the time of the pandemic, upgraded its scientific activity. The Ministry of Health acknowledges your important contribution to the treatment of patients with Covid and thanks you very much. Your contribution is multidimensional, lasting and much needed.
Valued colleagues,
In a modern state, health, the way it is managed and the level of citizens' relationship with it are inextricably linked to the quality of life, the services provided and the welfare state.
The launch of the GHS on 1 June 2019 opened up new horizons in the provision of health care to our fellow citizens, offering them universal access to health services that we would all like to have quality. As the Ministry of Health, having the regulatory and supervisory role, we have to review how the GHS operates and where and where there are problematic practices and procedures, we have to correct them, in collaboration with the stakeholders. With your support, your objectivity and expertise, we can achieve the improvement of the services provided as well as the timely and correct accessibility of citizens to the General Health System. As Pulmonary Specialists, it is your duty to practice medicine responsibly, to pursue continuing education. I look forward to your continued communication with the Ministry of Health to address the challenges and weaknesses of the GHS. The continuous training of health professionals in technical and innovative treatments is, after all, a valuable tool in all our efforts to improve the quality of health services to citizens.
On the occasion of my presence here, I wish to assure you that both I personally and the services of the Ministry of Health in general are committed to continuing to support the medical and scientific community of the country in an uninterrupted and diverse manner, welcoming initiatives such as today's.
I welcome the distinguished scientists from Greece, who together with the Cypriot scientists, on the basis of their accumulated knowledge and multidisciplinary experience, will also promote research in their field.
In conclusion, I wish you every success in the proceedings of the Conference and hope that there will be a significant dissemination of your knowledge and experience to the medical and scientific community, especially to the younger ones. Accumulated knowledge is power and gives light and this light when you pass it on to the medical and scientific community in general, they in turn will light their own torches.
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