Health Minister ountlines challenges Cyprus faces as small market for medicines in EU meeting

Minister of Health Michael Damianos outlined the needs of Cyprus and the challenges the country faces when it comes to the supply of medicines due to being a small market, in a discussion with the rest of the Ministers of Health of the EU in an informal meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) in Brussels.

The Minister of Health also participated in the inaugural meeting of the Alliance for Critical Medicines, that is medicines for which no suitable alternative exists and the inadequate supply of which would result in serious harm or risk to patients.

During this meeting, France presented an initiative for a "Manifesto for a coordinated industrial policy to address critical shortages of medicines in the European Union". This was supported by ten member states, including Cyprus.

According to an official press release, Damianos suggested ways to improve Cyprus' accessibility to a greater number of pharmaceutical products by introducing them more quickly to markets throughout Europe.

In his statement on the issue of the human resources crisis in the health sector, he presented Cyprus' recommendations and noted that any measures taken should ensure that the high quality of health services provided is maintained.

On the issue of prevention of non-communicable diseases, Damianos pointed out that through prevention incidence can be reduced by up to 70% and stressed the importance of implementing policies aimed at reducing the consumption of tobacco and alcohol products and improving nutrition.

Damianos also had brief bilateral meetings with the Greek Minister of Health, Adonis Georgiades, and the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakidou. He also had a trilateral meeting with the Danish Minister of Health Sophie Løhde Jacobsen and the Polish Deputy Minister of Health Katarzyna Kacperczyk, with whom he discussed the cooperation of the three countries in the context of the start of the next trio of EU Council Presidencies (Poland in the first half of 2025, Denmark in the second half of 2025, Cyprus in the first half of 2026).

(Source: CNA)