President Nikos Christodoulides on Sunday announced over €60 million in new spending on health infrastructure.

The funding, he said, will be spent on “the second and third phases” of the Athalassa psychiatric hospital, the creation of a new infectious diseases unit at the Nicosia general hospital, upgrades to both the intensive care unit and the pathology department at the Larnaca general hospital, and “significant upgrades and maintenance works” at the Troodos hospital.

He said that these projects will cost €61.7m, bringing the total amount spent on health infrastructure since his government took office to €206.7m.

Alongside the projects announced on Sunday, he also made reference to the planned new hospital in Polis Chrysochous, for which a decision regarding the expropriation of landwas issued by the government in March.

Timetables for the hospital’s construction were set out in January, with Christodoulides holding a meeting at the time with representatives of the Polis Chrysochous municipality and MPs from the Paphos district.

According to those plans, the hospital’s foundation stone will be laid in February next year, with construction to be complete by the end of 2028. Construction is set to cost €17m.

That €17m sits alongside the €128m of health infrastructure the government had announced in 2024, though delays at the time to upgrades at Athalassa had incensed trade unions.

Pasydy said at the time that the delay at Athalassa “undermines mental healthcare in our country”.

“A new psychiatric hospital is a key pillar for managing the growing needs in this sector, which has been dramatically burdened in recent years due to the pandemic, as well as economic pressure and social changes,” they said.

The union added that the completion of the second phase of construction is “vital for the hospital’s full operation and the assurance of quality mental health services”.

In addition, it said the project’s omission from the plans “raises questions regarding the strategic priorities and commitment to supporting mental health”.

“Investment in this sector is an investment in social cohesion, the wellbeing of ordinary people, and the reduction of social costs. Mental health should not be a marginal priority, but a central pillar of national policy,” it said.

The first phase of upgrades at Athalassa was finished in October 2023 at a total cost of just over €10m, with the government saying it “provides modern building facilities which will contribute to the rehabilitation and reintegration of people with mental health problems, respecting their dignity and rights”.