WHO Europe head thanks Turkey for 'strong data delivery' despite transparency doubts

Still image from the online meeting shows Hans Kluge (Photo: AA)

The World Health Organization's European region chief thanked Turkey for following its coronavirus recommendations, an official statement said yesterday (January 7).

"President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan's activities and leadership are appreciated by all countries. I would like to congratulate you on your strong data and information delivery system," Hans Kluge told Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca in a video conference.

Since the early days of the outbreak in Turkey, medical organizations have cast doubt on the ministry figures, criticizing it over lack of transparency.

The estimates of the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths by medical groups were significantly higher than the official figures as some medical chambers found higher daily infections and deaths in their provinces than what the ministry announced for the entire country.

After a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) revealed a ministry document that showed nearly six times higher cases for a day than the official figures in late September, Minister Koca admitted that they were excluding asymptomatic cases from the daily count.

The ministry started announcing the number of all cases in late November but failed to convince the Turkish Medical Association (TTB).

Kluge also congratulated Turkey as the country increased the scopes of vaccine studies, rapid Covid-19 diagnostic kits, and genome sequencing studies.

During the meeting, Kluge and Koca discussed rising Covid-19 cases in Europe, mutations, the current situation in Turkey and vaccine studies.

"We have entered a period in which the number of cases is increasing in Europe and decreasing gradually in our country," Koca said, adding that the ministry does not compromise on rapid testing, isolation, and contact tracking.

Turkey has observed a decline in the number of new cases since the government introduced weekend and weeknight lockdowns in early December.

Vaccine development

Noting that Turkey proceeds well on developing a national vaccine, Koca said Turkey has carried out all necessary work to delay the entrance of new mutation to the country.

"We have implemented some travel measures regarding the countries where the mutation is seen and quarantine measures for those coming from these countries," Koca said.

Kluge said there is no indication that the mutation increases mortality rates or aggravates the disease. Contagiousness has increased, he said, adding that public health measures should be increased all over the world.

Kluge also recommended vaccination studies to be accelerated worldwide.

As of yesterday, Turkey had registered a total of 22,264 deaths due to the coronavirus, while over 2.17 million people have recovered from the disease. There are currently more than 2.29 million confirmed cases in the country.

Turkey's reporting of coronavirus figures

As the official figures have been questioned by medical organizations and opposition parties since the start of the outbreak in Turkey, the Health Ministry admitted at the end of September that it was excluding asymptomatic cases from its daily count.

On November 25, the ministry started announcing both symptomatic cases, which it refers to as "patients," and all cases.

On December 10, the ministry updated the total number of cases to 1.78 million.

The accuracy of the fatality figures has also been disputed as the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) suggested as early as April that the ministry was not excluding the deaths of people who received Covid-19 treatment but died without a positive PCR test from its death toll.

A document published on the World Health Organization's (WHO) in April said that "Turkey uses a national definition of Covid-19 without referring to WHO or ECDC definitions."

The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality in late November started to announce the number of deaths caused by an "infectious disease" in the city. Since then, İstanbul's death figures have been similar to the ministry's toll for the entire country.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca admitted on December 9 that only the deaths with a positive PCR test were included in the country's official mortality figures.

Figures announced by the Health Ministry since the start of the outbreak:

(VK)