Parents accompanying sick children abroad wait up to a year for state allowance

Local healthTop News Parents accompanying sick children abroad wait up to a year for state allowance Parents Accompanying Sick Children Abroad Wait Up To A Year For State Allowance Relevant News Parents accompanying sick children abroad wait up to a year for state allowance 12 June 2026 UN envoy Holguín meets Christodoulides today, Erhürman on Saturday 12 June 2026 AKEL and ELAM deadlock parliament’s Selection Committee over Environment chairmanship 12 June 2026 Marilena Panayi 12 June 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Families of seriously ill children are waiting up to a year for state medical assistance payments, with some mothers declaring mental illness to avoid losing their jobs while caring for sick children, according to the honorary president of the Cyprus Federation of Patients’ Associations (OSAK), Marios Kouloumas. Kouloumas raised the issue on CyBC’s morning programme and later told Phileleftheros that the delays were pushing entire families to desperation. The Ministry of Health acknowledges the problem but the responsible department attributes it to understaffing. “It is unacceptable,” Kouloumas told Phileleftheros, “that while we fought as OSAK to have the companion allowance programme implemented, and while the state did implement it, we continue to have this enormous delay and are driving entire families to despair. We must all understand that, mainly in cases of sick children, at least one parent loses their job.” Among the cases that have come to Phileleftheros’s attention, one family has been in the United States for a year due to a child’s serious illness. Applications were submitted to the Ministry of Health on time but the allowance has still not been paid. In a second case, a family in Germany received their allowance 11 months after submitting their application, and only after the intervention of an MP. Families of children remaining in Cyprus for treatment face similar difficulties. Parents who are not civil servants risk losing their jobs, while allowances and Guaranteed Minimum Income payments due to the children are released with significant delays. Kouloumas told Phileleftheros that in cases where a parent — most often the mother — must take extended absence from work, sick leave eventually runs out. “Obviously they cannot obtain a sick certificate for themselves if they are not ill,” he said. According to information reaching OSAK, some mothers are declaring a mental illness in order not to lose their jobs. “Is it possible that things like this are happening — that people are reduced to this because they need to care for their child,” he said. Kouloumas said the allowance the state has committed to covering for at least one companion must reach families when they need it, not months later after they return to Cyprus. “These families need support — there may be other children remaining in Cyprus with grandparents or other relatives, they may be students forced to interrupt their studies, the family may have loan obligations. We cannot leave them to fend for themselves,” he said. In cases where a child’s illness entitles the family to a public allowance or Guaranteed Minimum Income, he said, the delay in payments means one parent loses their job, costs continue to mount, income is cut in half and there is no timely state intervention. “I think anything more we say would be superfluous,” he said. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News UN envoy Holguín meets Christodoulides today, Erhürman on Saturday AKEL and ELAM deadlock parliament’s Selection Committee over Environment chairmanship Weekends and public holidays count towards parental leave, department clarifies Anti-Corruption Authority report on ‘Mafia State’ allegations due Tuesday Cyprus drops nine places in 2026 Global Peace Index Police investigate kidnapping of foreign student in Larnaca Cyprus, Greece, Israel and US agree energy cooperation roadmap at Houston talks Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.