657 patients sent abroad for treatment under the GHS in 11 months

Cyprus’s Health Insurance Organisation (HIO) sent 657 patients abroad for treatment during the first eleven months of handling referrals for treatment overseas: they have either already travelled or are continuing their treatment. The data was presented by HIO Director Monica Kyriakou to the parliamentary Health Committee.

The function of referring patients abroad was transferred from the Ministry of Health to the HIO on 2 October 2025. Since then, the organisation has received 1,234 applications, of which 889 were approved — 72% of all applications.

Processing times depend on the urgency of the case. For applications involving a threat to life, a decision is made within an average of 42 minutes, compared with the statutory limit of 48 hours, while the journey abroad takes about one day. Urgent cases are reviewed within an average of one day, against a statutory limit of seven days, and the journey takes four days. For planned procedures, a decision is issued within six days, compared with a statutory limit of 30 days, while patients travel abroad after an average of 22 days.

For cases involving a threat to life, the HIO operates a 24-hour hotline: applications are assessed at any time of day by on-duty staff and their supervisors. Kyriakou stressed that the procedures are the same for everyone, so that patients are treated equally.

An application is rejected if equivalent treatment is available in Cyprus or if the doctor has submitted an incomplete set of documents. According to Kyriakou, incomplete documentation remains one of the main reasons for refusals, so doctors need to be more careful when preparing referrals.