Ministry Moves to Impose Control on Covid-19 Studies, Says Turkish Medical Association

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Conducting scientific studies on the coronavirus pandemic at hospitals and health organizations affiliated with the Health Ministry has been subjected to permission, the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) said today (April 28) in a written statement.

A study headed by a member of the ministry's science committee on the pandemic has been exempted from the ministry's order, it stated. This project would be financed by the World Bank, it added. For all other studies, scientists have to receive permission from provincial health directorates.

İstanbul Medical Chamber also said last week that the provincial directorate banned studies without permission.

Holding press conferences almost every other day to inform the public about the outbreak, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has been encouraging scientists to conduct studies on Covid-19 cases in Turkey. But the ministry's attitude was "preventive" rather than encouraging, according to the TTB.

"It is stipulated that physicians and health personnel should obtain permission from the Provincial Directorate of Health to conduct scientific research and to participate in research teams with Covid -19 records belonging to the patients they care for.

"The reason for laying down the condition of permission has not been disclosed. The criteria for which types of work are permitted and under what conditions have not been disclosed."

Also, physicians have to participate in studies on the treatments they conducted, which was against publication ethics, the association noted, adding that there was no such condition for the study backed by the ministry.

"The most striking problem here is that the data is subject to permission," the association said and asserted that such a practice contradicts with the people's right to health.

All physicians, regardless of being an academic or not, have the right to conduct studies using personal data, it further stated.

Doctors' organizations have also been accusing the Health Ministry of underreporting Covid-19 cases and fatalities by not counting those who received coronavirus treatment without a positive PCR test.

Turkey's death toll currently stands at 2,900 with more than 110,000 cases. (AÖ/VK)