'White March': Turkish Medical Association arrives in Kocaeli

* Photo: TTB

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As part of its protests with the motto "Out Labor, Our Word", the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has been on a "White March".

On the second day of the march yesterday (November 24), the TTB members arrived in Turkey's western province of Kocaeli.

The "White March" delegation made a statement for the press in front of the Derince Training and Research Hospital in Kocaeli.

During the statement, slogans were chanted: "Our labor, our word; wait for us, Ankara", "Equal, free healthcare for everyone", "Health is a right, it cannot be sold", "Trade in health means death", "May violence in healthcare come to an end" "This is just the beginning, struggle will continue".

Addressing the crowd there, TTB Central Council Chair Prof. Şebnem Korur-Fincancı raised concerns that the 70-percent share previously allocated to healthcare workers from the health budget has been reduced to around 30 percent with the introduction of the 'collapse in healthcare project' and healthcare workers are not given a recompense for their labor.

Noting that they are still struggling to ensure that people receive quality healthcare services in Turkey, Prof. Korur-Fincancı said:

"We will continue struggling on the White March today, at the White Forum in Ankara on Saturday and afterwards. We will continue struggling until we get our rights, until we do away with the regulations of punishment, until we create a healthy Turkey... Let's struggle together."

CLICK - TTB's 'White March' begins in İstanbul

'We are here for Rümeysa Berin Şen'

Speaking after Şebnem Korur-Fincancı, Kocaeli Medical Chamber Chair Ömer Ardaman said, "A system where preventive healthcare services have been abandoned, cascading in services has been removed and which is based on a provoked request for healthcare has deeply undermined people's right to receive quality healthcare services and values of medical profession."

Taking the floor afterwards, Kocaeli Family Physicians Association Chair Recep Pehlivan commemorated Rümeysa Berin Şen, an assistant physician who lost her life in a car crash in Ankara after leaving the public hospital where she had worked for over 24 hours.

"We are here today for our friends whom we have lost during the pandemic and our fellow assistant physician Rümeysa Berin Şen, who lost her life as a result of the working conditions caused by the shifts without sleep every other day," said Recep Pehlivan.

Following the statement, the TTB met with the health workers, patients and relatives of patients at the hospital and distributed its leaflets.

The "White March" of the TTB began in İstanbul on November 23, 2021 and arrived in Kocaeli yesterday. After stopping by Bursa today (November 25) and Eskişehir on November 26, the TTB delegation is expected to arrive in the capital city of Ankara on November 27.

The march will end with the "White Forum" in Ankara.

Diyarbakır, İzmir express support

In the sixth week of the TTB's protests with the motto "Our Labor, Our Word", statements for the press were held in several workplaces and medical chambers yesterday with the aim of rebuilding the healthcare services in Turkey based on a public-minded understanding.

In their press statements, the Diyarbakır and İzmir Medical Chambers expressed their support for the "White March". (KÖ/SD)