‘Vaccination is a right for public health’

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The Antalya Medical Chamber has released a written statement about the recent debates on influenza vaccination in Turkey.

Amid a reported shortage of influenza vaccines in Turkey ahead of flu season and confusion about who can or must be vaccinated against the disease amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Ministry of Health made a statement about the issue the other day (October 21) and announced that the available vaccines would be applied to citizens "gradually and based on designated risk groups."

In this context, Antalya Medical Chamber has noted that the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) made a call to the Ministry of Health months ago.

Entitled "Vaccination is a right for public health," the statement has also read, "At this point, it has been understood that the Ministry of Health, which has been pursuing a policy that is far from being transparent, could not make the necessary organization and procure enough vaccines."

"There is now a chaos about how this insufficient number of vaccines will be distributed and who will be given priority. The Ministry of Health indicates that the persons who can be vaccinated have been announced on the e-nabız (e-pulse) application based on the criteria it has determined in an incomprehensible manner which is far from being scientific.

'No vaccine even for 90-year-olds'

"However, the number of procured vaccines is so meager that the persons who have acquired the right to be vaccinated can be considered the happy minority. Even a 90-year-old patient with a chronic heart disorder and hypertension can see a warning that reads 'you are not in the first-priority risk group for influenza' and cannot get a vaccine.

"Considering equity and protection of the public, the criteria in question are also unacceptable in the sense that healthcare workers, who are 10 times more likely to catch the disease and have been selflessly struggling against the outbreak at the very forefront, thereby constituting the most important risk group, cannot access vaccination.

'It will provoke violence in healthcare'

"Moreover, this current chaos which is far from scientificity and transparency will also provoke violence in healthcare and this violence will target physicians and health workers, who are always face-to-face with their patients and society as required by their profession.

"The responsibility for the resultant violence and negative consequences will fall on the shoulders of the government."

Concluding the statement, the Antalya Medical Chamber has underlined that "working for the good of their patients is their ethical and professional responsibility as physicians." Referring to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), the chamber has reminded the state that it is obligated to provide everyone over 6 months of age with free vaccinations. (RT/SD)