Medical Experts Call on Health Ministry to be 'More Transparent' on Covid-19 Pandemic

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Deficiencies in information and precautions regarding the coronavirus pandemic cause confusion among physicians, healthcare workers and patients, medical experts have stated. 

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB), TTB Speciality Associations Coordination Committee and specialty associations have released the conclusions of a meeting they held on Tuesday (March 17).

In the final declaration of the meeting, the experts stated that the public, healthcare workers and professional organizations should be regularly informed on the developments regarding the outbreak, calling on the Health Ministry for transparency.

The information should include the number of the conducted tests for coronavirus, the number of patients diagnosed with Covid-19, the number of people who died from the virus and demographic information about them, according to the declaration.

While Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has been regularly informing the public about the number of positive test results and deaths, he has not given detailed information about the tests. He yesterday (March 19) announced that "more than 10 thousand people" were tested, 359 people tested positive and four people died of Covid-19.

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"The restrictions implemented by the Health Ministry in order to prevent the outbreak are necessary and sufficient. However, the success of these restrictions depends on the timely and meticulous implementation," the statement noted.

"To protect the health workers, which is one of the biggest risk groups and at the same time the most important power to overcome the outbreak, and their families, the existing deficiencies should be rapidly eliminated.

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"Without making a distinction between public and private institutions, all healthcare infrastructure of the country, hospital, intensive care beds and healthcare labor force should be coordinated from a single center.

"Due to the fact that the death rates are high in the countries where the healthcare infrastructure, most notably the intensive care services, is not prepared for such a pandemic, healthcare infrastructure should be dynamically designed." (AS/VK)