Paper short abstract:

Greek-Cypriots perceive health care and illness within a comparative framework, which helps them to make sense of scenarios of uncertainty. In such a framework, 'Europe' as a reference point has taken an important position, and has either been understood as the 'good' or the 'avoidable' other.

Paper long abstract:

<b>Co-author: Violetta Christophidou Anastasiadou, Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics</b></br>

My paper argues that Greek-Cypriots perceive health care and illness within a comparative framework, which helps them to make sense of scenarios of uncertainty. I discuss the findings from a study that used various types of interviews within the context of participant observation to investigate attitudes and understandings of genetic testing and organ transplantation in Cyprus. It became apparent that peoples' experiences determine their understandings of these issues and health care in general. Those who never underwent any serious genetic or organ transplantation considered health care in Western Europe as better than in Cyprus. In contrast, those who underwent such medical procedures or knew on who had undergone them tend to exhibit higher levels of trust into the local health care system.