COVID-19: Turkish Medical Association met Minister of Health Koca

* Photo: Güven Yılmaz - Ankara / AA

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Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Central Council Chair Prof. Sinan Adıyaman and TTB COVID-19 Monitoring Board member Prof. Özlem Azap met with Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca at the ministry's office in the capital city of Ankara yesterday (September 3).

Addressing the reporters in front of the Ministry of Health following the closed-door meeting, Adıyaman said that they, as the TTB, shared their opinions about the current state of the pandemic and its quick spread in Turkey, telling the Minister that the pandemic was now out of control.

When asked a question as to whether they talked about the data shared by the Ministry about COVID-19, Sinan Adıyaman answered as follows:

"Yes, about this issue, we said that the numbers shared on the table are completely different. Mr. Minister made his own statements, but we reiterated that, in the light of the information that we receive from the field, we do not find those numbers credible. We also said that we deduce the same thing from the statements of governors and mayors of several cities. We will continue announcing the data that we receive."

Routine tests for health workers

Adıyaman also said, "When family physicians working in family health centers were on a sick leave, it was cut from their salaries. In today's meeting, we have learnt that this will be dealt with in a short time. We welcome this news. Moreover, we have also learnt that as of August 1, arrangements were made about the wages of specialists, assistants, family physicians and other physicians struggling against COVID-19."

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), yesterday's meeting signaled an upcoming meeting between Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and specialty associations, Sinan Adıyaman said and added,

"I would like to thank him, but we will continue to follow deficiencies about the pandemic, see their damage on society and make our warnings."

TTB Chair Adıyaman also said, "Minister Koca leaned towards the idea of regularly testing all health workers working in especially risky areas and he gave an instruction about this."

COVID-19 as an occupational disease

TTB COVID-19 Monitoring Board member Prof. Özlem Azap also indicated that the meeting was long and fruitful and noted that the most important item on the agenda of the meeting was health workers.

"Health Minister Koca stated that they will continue working to ensure that the healthcare workers who lost their lives due to COVID-19 will be recognized as died of an occupational disease," Prof. Azap noted.

According to Azap, some of the other issues on the agenda were personal protective equipment and moral support for health workers and their work hours. Noting that they talked about the these issues, Azap said:

"Mr. Minister indicated that they are preparing to make sure that no problems will arise while providing personal protective equipment, influenza vaccines will be provided in amounts 4-5 times higher than previous years, pneumococcal vaccine has also been provided and will be used again in upcoming days. We also talked about the ongoing vaccine research." (AS/SD)