Healthcare Services in Cyprus during the Ottoman Period 1571 – 1878

Background: For health professionals, the knowledge of the history of their art is central, both to understanding their science, but also their practice within the health care system. Therefore, it was necessary recounting the development of scarce public health services in Cyprus during the Ottoman rule (1571 1878) before their rapid development during the British rule (1878 1960). Objective: The purpose of this study is the historical overview of the development of public health services in Cyprus during the Ottoman rule, from 1571 to 1878. Methodology: Methodology of historical research has been used. More specifically, primary, secondary and tertiary sources were used through the review of domestic and international literature. Specifically, the entire search included: history books, Cypriot medical encyclopaedias and previous research, reports of colonial administrative officers, Cyprus Blue Book and Cyprus Gazette. Results – Conclusions: Finding primary sources was extremely difficult, some of the primary sources were various reports of foreign travellers in Cyprus during the Ottoman rule, the first years of British rule after 1878 and the first reports of various British colonial administrative officers. During the Ottoman period the lack of any health service was evident and there was no effective state welfare for medical or nursing care for the residents of Cyprus. The only health care structures throughout the Ottoman period were the infirmary of the monastery of nuns in Larnaca, the Leper Farm and the Quarantines that operated at the two ports of the island. The foundation of the first health structures in Cyprus reached with the concession of domination of the island by the Ottomans to the British.