It is the state's duty to undertake collective initiatives to support and protect the medical profession so that health care providers are able to offer high quality care for the benefit of patients, Health Minister Michael Damianos said on Thursday addressing an annual meeting of the Cyprus Medical Association in Limassol, entitled 'Threats to the Medical Profession'. Damianos said that the main threats arise from technological, social economic and political changes which require collective and systematic responses. The Minister also described as threats the excessive workload, increased bureaucratic procedures, demands for constant professional information, increased social, economic and legal pressures, commercialization of medicine and burnout. ''Personal safety and security at work are also areas for discussion as incidents of violence or intimidation against health professionals by patients or their families are recorded, mainly in accident and emergency units'', he said. The Health Minister also no ted that medical associations operate in the interest of people's health and promote the medical profession, while ensuring professional accountability and adherence to ethical principles by their members. ''The independence of medical associations is a crucial and fundamental issue both for the protection of patients' interests and for promoting high quality medical practice',' he added, noting that independence means, among other things, being free from political, economic or other external interference which could affect the certification of their members or decisions concerning the ethics of the profession. Damianos also said that the collective duty requires to promote and preserve the credibility of doctors and medical associations, underlying that ''discrimination within the health system may also affect the quality of health care''. ''Discrimination could mean unequal or unfair treatment of individuals or groups based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disabilit y, age or socioeconomic status. Discrimination can manifest itself in various ways such as refusal to provide services, delays in treatment, inadequate care, or biased attitudes by healthcare professionals," he noted, adding that we must contribute to combating all forms of discrimination in the health sector. The Minister also said in his address that the use of Artificial Intelligence in medicine, despite its various benefits, raises serious bioethical and ethical dilemmas. ''Technology cannot replace the importance of human contact," he said. Source: Cyprus News Agency