Public debate on health in Cyprus tends to revolve around service capacity, waiting times and the cost of the GHS. Far less often does it address the question that should come first: what are we doing to avoid needing the health system in the first place? Data from recent years, presented in a particularly revealing report in this edition, point clearly to a long standing weakness in health policy. Prevention remains the system’s blind spot, despite being the most effective and economically sustainable pillar of any modern health system.
The picture is contradictory. On the one hand, Cyprus enjoys high life expectancy and universal access to healthcare. On the other, almost one third of deaths are directly linked to unhealthy lifestyles. Obesity, physical inactivity and smoking continue to dominate the list of risk factors. Cardiovascular disease and cancer remain the leading causes of death, even though in many cases they are preventable or can be significantly delayed through timely intervention.
The most worrying aspect is not the indicators themselves but their stagnation. Despite repeated declarations and isolated programmes, prevention still accounts for barely 2 per cent of total health expenditure. The system continues to invest primarily in treatment, in other words in managing the consequences, rather than in tackling the causes of disease. This may be politically convenient, but in the long term it is economically and socially unsustainable.
The pressure the GHS is expected to face over the next 10 to 20 years is not hypothetical. An ageing population, rising rates of chronic illness and persistently high levels of childhood obesity point to a future of increasing demand and escalating costs. Without a holistic prevention policy, one that begins at school, extends into the workplace and takes social and geographical inequalities into account, the system will continue to operate in reactive mode.
Prevention is not simply a health issue. It is a matter of sustainability, social justice and quality of life. If Cyprus wants a GHS that can withstand the future, it must shift the focus of its policy from managing illness to systematically investing in health.