Cyprus will become the 16th European Union member state to join the bloc’s cross-border healthcare programme in April, enabling its citizens to access their medical records and prescriptions throughout the EU, officials told a parliamentary health committee.
The National eHealth Authority representatives announced that Cypriot prescriptions will be valid at participating pharmacies across EU member states, whilst European citizens visiting Cyprus will have reciprocal rights.
The initiative marks the first phase of Cyprus’s integration into the EU’s cross-border healthcare system, with the Mediterranean island nation taking a coordinating role in the broader Xt-HER European programme.
A comprehensive electronic patient record system, scheduled for completion in April 2026, will incorporate 12 distinct pillars, including demographic data, medical history, diagnoses, laboratory results, surgical procedures, and medication records.
The authority also revealed plans for a mobile application, set to launch by end-2025 or early 2026, providing citizens with access to their medical summaries, emergency services via a “panic button”, and information about after-hours pharmacies.
“These are very important projects that are being promoted at this moment, and our goal is to complete them as soon as possible”, the authority stated.
Additional initiatives include the development of eCAN (e-cancer), an application for cancer patients, and an electronic European vaccination card, both currently in development.
The mobile application is expected to eventually integrate with the European Commission’s “Potential” project for a European digital wallet, officials said.
