Healthcare in Cyprus accounted for 7% of its GDP in 2014. Between 2010 and 2014, health care spending increased from $1,705 per capita to $2,062 per capita. Cyprus has a multi-payer health care system that consists of a public and private sector. The public sector is funded by payroll, earnings taxes, and employer contributions. The public sector healthcare provides social insurance for the employed, self-employed, and for several types of civil servants.
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Health Insurance
The current dual sector system is in the process of being replaced with a National Health System that aims to provide universal coverage. The National Health System is estimated to save €292 million from 2016-2025 compared to the predicted expenditures of the current system. Currently, the public health sector managed by the Ministry of Health provides free services to approximately 83% of the population. Public coverage includes dental services, mental health services, pharmaceutical services, and general public health resources.
History
n 2013 Cyprus decided to establish a national health care system, with support from creditors of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank, and European Commission. The National Health System is predicted to increase coordination, reduce waste, and be more fiscally responsible. Inefficiencies in the system include overlapping services between the public and private health service providers and “poor communication and coordination” between the sectors. Cyprus ranks the highest among EU nations on out-of-pocket health spending. Public healthcare operates with the state’s Ministry of Health providing control and funding. Cyprus outperforms the EU average of dentists per capita (91 for every 100,000 people) and underperforms in pharmacists per capita (21 for every 100,000 people).
George Pamporidis, the Minister of Health, announced in September 2015 that he intended to establish a National Health Service by 2017. He has previously pledged to clear our corruption in Cyprus' public hospitals. Establishment of an operational NHS was a promise Cyprus made as part of the bailout programme with the Troika of international lenders. Pamporidis proposed a 2% special tax (1% for employers and 1% for employees) to finance a "mini-NHS".
Major Diagnoses
The three most common causes of death are circulatory disease, neoplasms, and respiratory disease. The two most common cancers are prostate cancer and breast cancer. The measles immunization rate of 86% for one year olds is below the WHO European region average rate and second lowest in the EU.
Health indicators
As of 2013, life expectancy for females was 85 and for males 80. Infant mortality in 2002 was 5 per 1,000 live births, comparing favorably to most developed nations. A systematic population analysis of deaths in the adult population (ages 15–59) and released in 2010 in The Lancet place Cyprus as the country with the lowest mortality in females and 14th lowest mortality in males.
The Euro health consumer index ranked Cyprus 26th of 35 European countries in 2015, commenting that it did not really have a public healthcare system in the general European meaning. It has the highest rates of Caesareans in the world.