Moving to Cyprus with Type 1

pavlosn said:

Hi @padderpaws

As far as I know, diabetics in Cyprus are only entitled to free insulin or other medication if they can prove that their income falls below a certain (not very generous) threshold. Presumably for minors, that would be the income of their parents. Effectively, this means that most people have to pay for their medication. Don't forget that you also have to cover your test sticks for glucose monitoring. That can be a high price to pay, depending on what prices have been designated by the Ministry of Health. The healthcare provider that you sign up to, may have schemes for covering part or full cost of the medicines/diagnostic agents. This depends on what sort of work you do - it is not possible to go to a private insurance company. This may require of you to attend committee meetings, for the diabetes to be assessed in detail. As for the UK, go to your GP before you leave and make sure that they keep your daughter at their surgery. She can get repeat prescriptions automatically simply by asking. Your chemist can supply you with boxes of 5 pens or cartridges at a time, just by asking your GP to prescribe a box of insulin. When I left the UK as a child, it was very hard, as switching insulin to the foreign one was hard and I had to start using plastic syringes. Nowadays, the countries are more similar in provisions for insulin and diagnostic strips. Make sure that you have a good relationship with your British chemist before you leave, as this will be key to the supply of your medication.

There has been talk for some time of an introduction of an NHS type national health scheme under which only a fixed subscription fee would be paid but this is still not yet implemented; latest date given for the introduction is 1/1/2016 I believe.

I hope this does not put you off Cyprus and that you will enjoy living in Paphos.

Best regards

Pavlos

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