Press Releases

The Minister of Health, Mr Michalis Hadjipantela, in his intervention at the Council of Ministers of Health of the European Union, held today, March 29^th, in Brussels, expressed the complete solidarity of Cyprus to Ukraine and its suffering people, adding that Cyprus unreservedly condemns the Russian invasion of the country and reiterates its full respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Mr Hadjipantela stressed that being a refugee, at the age of 40 days old, from occupied Ammochostos following the illegal Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, he fully understands the plight of refugees who are in absolute need of humanitarian aid, especially in the field of health. He also expressed the solidarity of Cyprus to the member states neighbouring Ukraine, whose health systems are under great pressure due to the massive arrival of refugees.

The Commission’s recent announcement regarding Europe’s preparedness to address the needs of refugees, he stated, including access to health services, creates the appropriate framework for joint action. Cyprus, he added, agrees with the Commission that it should focus on refugees in need of urgent healthcare, stressing the importance of the solidarity mechanism for medical transport within the EU in the health sector. The issue of the mental health of refugees should not be disregarded, he added, since the experience of refugees often involves indelible trauma.

The Minister stressed that a possible action would be the creation of mobile hospitals staffed by the member states, and that this action would be a practical act of solidarity between the states, and thanked the Health Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, for today’s announcement of a significant financial aid.

Referring to Cyprus, Mr Hadjipantela said that at national level, Cyprus has so far hosted about 15,000 refugees from Ukraine and that it has taken all appropriate steps to support them and to provide access to work, protection and education of children and vulnerable persons, as well as full and free access to health services.

In the field of health, Mr Hadjipantela stated that Ukrainian refugees in Cyprus have easy, quick and free access to COVID-19 vaccines, as well as to any other vaccines deemed necessary for public health protection purposes.

In addition, he said, the Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the other competent authorities of Cyprus, has developed protocols for the early detection and prevention of communicable diseases and for raising awareness of healthcare benefits.

Finally, he added that the humanitarian aid sent by Cyprus to Ukraine includes a donation of pharmaceutical and medical equipment.

(AP/EK/MPO)