Despite repeated warnings about the potential once-off nature of corporation tax receipts and the concentration risk of having so few firms paying the bulk of the money, Ireland continues to hit the business tax jackpot.Revenue from the tax swelled to a record €23.8 billion last year, almost six times the amount garnered in 2014. It … Read more
Patients are running out of specialized medications due to the state’s lack of planning. The Ministry of Health is scrambling to secure additional funds to cover the needs of patients for the next two weeks. An important medicine for kidney disease sufferers has been in short supply for a month.
Fact: Beetroot may give some modest boost to sex for men and women, likely by helping circulation, but it’s unlikely to transform your sex life or act as vegetable Viagra.
The European Union has identified 200 essential “critical medicines” to address shortages and ensure consistent supply across member states. The EU is promoting cooperation among countries to allow for drug procurement from nations with available stocks. The Critical Medicines Alliance aims to help smaller states like Cyprus, which often struggle with stock levels. Efforts include strengthening EU drug production capacity, creating European stockpiles, and aligning funding to tackle shortages. Elena Panayiotopoulos, Cyprus’ Director of Pharmaceutical Services, emphasized the importance of addressing medicine shortages that disrupt treatment and endanger patients. The EU Regulation ‘HTA’ will provide Cyprus with a common clinical assessment in 2025 to help access innovative treatments and effective medicines.
Health Minister Michael Damianos praised his ministry’s accomplishments during the first year of President Nikos Christodoulides’ tenure, highlighting the implementation of expenses coverage plan for patients sent abroad for treatment, the increase in subsidy for infertility treatment, and the preparation of new health strategies including better management of patients with mental health problems and nutritional disorders. Additionally, investments in infrastructures and medical equipment in public hospitals worth €22 million were approved.
Cyprus is hosting the World Health Organisation’s meeting of the small countries initiative in the European region. The meeting will focus on cancer, health and climate change, and countries will report progress on various health-related issues.
The government is searching for new premises to store medicines. The current premises were destroyed in a flood, costing over €880,000. There is an investigation into why this happened. The current premises were leased by the ministry to a private contractor for €6,600 per year and then re-leased back to the ministry for €135,000 per year, a markup of more than 2,000 per cent. There is currently no shortage of medicines in Cyprus.
Fact: Health Minister Michael Damianos received a fact-finding report over the medicine scandal and vowed to act accordingly based on the findings.
EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, stated that the European Health Union has been shaped by the core principle of “my health, my right,” which is also the theme of this year’s World Health Day.
– Government officials estimated the damage to medicines in the flooded warehouse at €880,000.