The news Health Systems in Transition (HiT) for Cyprus has just been released. The health system consists of 2 parallel delivery systems: a public and a private one. A high percentage of citizens hold a favourable opinion about the availability and accessibility of care, despite long waiting lists. Although barriers to access for some groups lead to unmet need, generally Cypriots are in good health compared to the populations of other EU countries. There is room for improvement in efficiency, transparency, quality and accountability. Additional patient empowerment and citizen participation in decision making, better hospital management and governance, and better control of biomedical technology deployment and use, are some of the priorities necessary to improve performance.