The launch of the joint initiative to use culture as a means to promote the health and well-being of patients was announced by Minister of Health, Michael Damianos, and Deputy Minister of Culture, Vasiliki Kassianidou, during their visit on Tuesday at the Paediatric Oncology and Paediatric Hematology Clinics of Makarios Hospital, in Nicosia.
In his statements, Damianos said that culture is a fundamental means of promoting health and emphasised the will of the Ministry to include culture and art in the treatment of patients. “As recent studies show, culture contributes to the mental and physical health of patients,” he added.
On her part, Kassianidou said that this is an initiative that the Deputy Ministry of Culture is launching together with the Ministry of Health, so that, as she said, “we can bring culture to hospitals, that is, we can bring literary books, theatrical performances and actions, to help patients overcome whatever problem they have faster, offering them a way out.” As she explained, this is
done first in the paediatric clinics of Makarios Hospital.
“We would like to work together to slowly bring it to adult patients in other hospitals,” Kassianidou said, thanking the Minister of Health for his response to this collaboration. She also expressed the view that “the result will be excellent and will help many of our fellow citizens.”
Replying to a question about the extension of the initiative to the rest of the hospitals, Kassianidou stated that “it has not yet been planned exactly, but the goal is to launch it in the coming months.”
Source: Cyprus News Agency
