EPF Capacity Building Programme speeds up in Cyprus

EPF went to Cyprus on 17 January 2015 to facilitate a strategic planning workshop with our member, the Pancyprian Federation of Patients Associations and Friends. This activity took place within our Capacity Building Programme (CBP) as Cyprus, after an ad-hoc request by our member, was the fifth country to join our Programme in 2014 after Bulgaria, Hungaria, Romania and Slovakia.

The Programme was launched in 2012 to support the development of organisational capacities and advocacy skills of national and European patient organisations. It keeps going from strength to strength as we are now supporting our Cypriot member with the development of their first Strategic Plan. This is part of the Federation’s overall aim to give patients a stronger voice in national level decisions impacting on them. It is also very timely as the Cypriot Government is currently discussing the development of a new health system.

We facilitated a workshop involving 25 representatives of the Federation’s member organisations training them on the key elements of a strategic plan and the issues that should be taken into consideration during its development. More importantly, the workshop provided a valuable opportunity for representatives to better get to know each other and to gather their views on what the Federation should work on over the next five years.

“Currently patients in Cyprus face many challenges. With what we have learned from the workshop, we strongly believe that the voice of the patients will be heard and that policy-makers will act upon in order to influence the policies and the strategies for the health” said Mr. Marios Kouloumas, President of the Federation.

EPF will continue to provide support and expertise to our Cypriot member to ultimately help them develop their first strategic plan and further carry out an initial organisational capacity needs’ assessment.

Contact: Walter Atzori, EPF Senior Programme Officer, walter.atzori@eu-patient.eu