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Cyprus Health Care
Mortality rates and the health of Greek Cypriots rose
steadily
in the postwar era. The eradication of malaria was an
important
cause for this improvement, as were material prosperity
and the
diffusion of up-to-date health information. Since
independence in
1960, the Ministry of Health has been responsible for
improving
public health and providing public medical services, as
well as
overseeing the extensive private health care sector.
Government medical services were available to all at
the
beginning of the 1990s. The poor were entitled to free
services;
middle-income families paid for care at reduced rates.
These two
groups accounted for well over half the population;
upper-income
persons paid for the full costs of medical services. In
addition,
there were a number of health plans subsidized by
employers and
trade unions. Civil servants and members of police and
military
units received free medical care. Cypriots needing care
not
available in the republic were sent abroad at government
expense.
At the beginning of the 1990s, there were six general
hospitals, all in the main towns. In addition, there were
twentyone rural health centers and a psychiatric hospital in
Nicosia. In
1987 there were 1,870 hospital beds, compared with 1,592
in 1960.
The private health sector was extensive, and more than
threequarters of all doctors and dentists had their own
practices or
practiced part time in private clinics. Taking both public
and
private care into account, in 1989 there was 1 hospital
bed per 166
inhabitants, 1 doctor per 482 inhabitants, and 1 dentist
for every
1,356 inhabitants.
The improvement in the island's health care during the
postwar
period was reflected by increased life expectancy. In the
1983-87
period, Cypriot women could expect to live 77.8 years, and
men 73.9
years, compared with 69 and 64 years, respectively, for
the period
1948-50. The improvement in the infant mortality rate was
even more
striking, with 11 deaths per 1,000 births in the
mid-1980s,
compared with 63 per 1,000 at mid-century.
The main reasons for improved health conditions on the
island
were the Cypriots' constant pursuit of better living
standards,
their consuming concern with their family's welfare, the
close
urban-rural ties, and the rapid diffusion of and
receptiveness to
innovative ideas in health care.
Data as of January 1991
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