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- Ελληνικά
The implementation of the General Health Plan from 2019 is one of the most important social reforms of the Republic of Cyprus, which remains flexible and in continuous evolution. The vision of ensuring a high level of health for citizens and timely and equitable access to health services is being implemented at a steady pace, despite the adverse conditions we had to manage due to the recent pandemic crisis.
Since 2019, reforms to establish universal coverage, improve accessibility to health services and financial protection have started to be implemented in the health system. The recent health crisis has demonstrated that the design and organization of the health system allows for seamless collaboration with health authorities, ensuring effective mobilization of available resources in case of peak emergency needs.
Following the introduction of the Universal Health Coverage System, unmet medical care needs were extremely low for 2022, below 1 % for both low-income and high-income households. The preceding reforms therefore increased the capacity of the health system to respond to patients' needs despite the temporary lag in the volume of care provided by the pandemic.
The above seems to be confirmed by the findings of a recent survey conducted by IMR/University of Nicosia™ on how much the system has improved during its first five years. More than 92% of respondents answered that the GHS has improved the quality of health services provided, as well as their quality of life, listing as important benefits the reduction in the cost of access to health care (62%), and the increase in choice as far as health care providers are concerned.
The continuous enrichment of the range of services provided since the start of the implementation of the GHS has received significant recognition from patients, as demonstrated by the now computerized reports of the use of the system.
To date, a comprehensive package of health services has been achieved, as a result of the positive response of health care providers and suppliers of medical products, providing a significant improvement in accessibility and substantially expanding the range of services and products.
In particular, the vast majority of physicians, pharmacists, nurses and laboratory and other health professionals have actively demonstrated their interest with their ever-increasing participation in the GHS, supporting the quantitative and geographic adequacy of the system in terms of personal physicians, including on-call services, specialist physicians, pharmacies, clinical laboratories, nursing homes, Accident & Emergency departments, ambulance services, nursing services, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, clinical dietetics, clinical psychology, podiatry and palliative care and rehabilitation.
All beneficiaries now have an electronic record of all medical procedures, which allows them to monitor in real time the medical history of themselves and their minor children.
An important contribution of the implementation of the GHS is also to ensure a sufficient level of stability, adequacy and sustainability of the market for medicines and medical devices, allowing the enrichment of innovative options accessible to patients, especially with regard to chronic diseases, such as diabetes and its complications, immunodeficiencies, thalassaemia, cancer, autoimmune diseases, etc.As part of its supervisory role, the Ministry of Health carries out a systematic evaluation of the health system in order to ensure that it is optimised in a transparent manner, addressing the shortcomings that emerged in its first years of operation, placing the patient at the centre of our policy and safeguarding his or her rights.
As part of its supervisory role, the Ministry of Health carries out a systematic evaluation of the health system in order to ensure that it is optimised, addressing the shortcomings that emerged in its first years of operation, placing the patient at the centre of our policy and safeguarding his or her rights.
Invariably, and in order to ensure the sustainability of the GHS, there should also be the necessary control in the use of the system, both in terms of avoiding abuses and ensuring the quality of the services provided. Through the use of computerized medical practice evaluation, it is possible to develop and implement targeted provider reimbursement models based on quality criteria and performance indicators and to promote incentives and disincentives where there is a distortion of the supply-demand relationship. The establishment of clinical guidelines is also a guarantee for maintaining quality in the provision of health services. This effort is expected to be further strengthened, with the contribution of the Ministry of Health, through the development of the National Centre for Clinical Documentation.
Friends,
The GHS is the key infrastructure, with the potential for convergence of health services, in achieving the goal of continuous improvement of the level of health of citizens. In this effort, the Ministry of Health contributes by offering in-depth guidance on how the GHS will be adapted to current needs, through the initiative for the systematic development of Capacity Planning in the health sector in Cyprus. At the same time, the Ministry of Health makes maximum use of the possibility of obtaining funding from European funds for the upgrading of health services, e.g. training, facilities, new technologies, by undertaking initiatives that will actively enable the further improvement of the GHS, supporting the work of the Health Insurance Organisation.
Having already completed the first five years of operation of the GHS, we are now in a position to launch a new period in health policy making, with well-founded and appropriate interventions, on the basis of close cooperation between the Ministry of Health, the Health Insurance Agency and providers, for the benefit of citizens, ensuring the long-term optimisation of the health system.
(DK)
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