Cyprus is one of the countries with the lowest percentages of children under 16 living in a household as dependants that had unmet medical needs in 2021, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU. However, when it came to unmet medical needs regarding dental care, the relevant percentage in Cyprus was slightly higher than the EU average.
In 2021, 1.5% of children below 16 years old in households with children in Cyprus, had unmet medical needs (3.6% in the EU), indicating an increase of 0.1% percentage points (pp) since the last report in 2017 (1.4%). On the EU level there was an increase of 2 pp compared to 2017 (1.6%).
The share of dependant children with unmet medical needs in Cyprus was higher (3.5%) for children living in households with one adult, but slightly lower at 1.3 for households with two or more adults.
The same trends appear on an ?U level, with 5.3% for children living in households with one adult having unmet medical needs. The corresponding percentage was also slightly lower for households with two or more adults compared to the overall share of dependant children, at 3.4%.
Among EU members, the highest shares of children with unmet medical needs living in households with children were reported in Poland (7.3%) and Latvia (6.4%), followed by Hungary and Romania (both 4.7%), and Spain (4.6%).
In contrast, the lowest shares were reported in Austria (0.3%) and Luxembourg (0.4%), followed by Croatia (0.9%), and Malta, Lithuania, and Cyprus (all with 1.5% each).
Unmet needs in dental care
In 2021, the situation for dental care was similar though slightly worse than the unmet medical needs in both Cyprus and the EU level.
More specifically, 4.7% of children in Cyprus living in households with dependant children (4.4% in the EU) didn’t receive the dental care they needed. This percentage marked an increase by 1.6 pp in Cyprus compared to 2017 (3.1%) and an increase of 1.8 pp on the EU level (2.6%).
Looking at data for all EU countries, 11 registered a percentage of children with unmet dental care needs above the EU average, including in Cyprus.
This percentage was higher in households with one adult, with 7.5% of these children in Cyprus (7.1% in the EU) not receiving the dental care they needed. Meanwhile, 4.5% of the children living in households with two or more adults in Cyprus (4.0% in the EU) had unmet needs for dental care treatment.
In 2021, among the EU members, the highest shares of children with unmet needs for dental care living in households with children were registered in Latvia (7.7%), followed by Spain (7.1%), Hungary (7.0%), Slovenia (6.8%), and Portugal (6.4%).
At the bottom of the scale, the lowest shares were registered in Luxembourg (0.6%), Croatia (0.8%), Sweden (1.1%), and Austria and Italy (both with 1.2%).
Source: Cyprus News Agency