New Health Minister Philippos Patsalis pledges to make the welfare of patients his top priority. “It is my personal belief that nothing is as important as serving people and their needs,” said Patsalis. The ministry of health is embarking on a new course in which people and patients will be the focus of its policies.”

His predecessor Petros Petrides said the two greatest challenges ahead of Patsalis are the restructuring of the ministry and public hospitals, as well as the implementation of the national health scheme. He said the ministry’s strategy for the period 2014 to 2019 had been drafted but it had not been publicised as he felt it would be best that Patsalis review it before deciding whether he wished to proceed with any amendments.

Petrides did reveal that a World Health Organisation (WHO) mission would be visiting Cyprus at the beginning of April to conduct a study on the healthcare system. Also a delegation from the British National Institute for Health and Care Excellence had been invited and is expected to sign an agreement to provide Cyprus with protocols and comparative efficiency tables on drugs and costs. Cyprus has the most expensive medicines in the EU.

The new minister is also Professor of Genetics and Provost of the Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine and has honorary titles as Professor at Universities in Cyprus and abroad. As an academic and technocrat he takes part in many academic and administrative activities in Cyprus and internationally, such as President of the CyprusNational Committee for Research, Innovation and Technological Development, President of the Cyprus Society of Human Genetics, Board Member of the European Cytogeneticists Association and Board Member of the European Society of Human Genetics.

Professor Patsalis is a scientist recognised and respected internationally in the field of genetics and has been invited to provide lectures in more than 140 universities and conferences globally. He has obtained many competitive research grants, including numerous grants from the European Union and the most prestigious grant in the European Union known as the ERC Advanced Grant which is given to very few senior scientists in Europe and is based purely on excellence.

He has received more than 30 national and international awards in recent years, including the National Research Award 2008, the National Innovation Award 2009, the US State Alumni Award-State Department US 2011, Man of the Year 2011 and the Silver Medal of the Parliament 2012, the highest honorary distinction of the Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus. In 2013, the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades awarded him with a national award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to scientific research and for being awarded the ERC Advanced Program of Excellence from the European Research Council.