‘Physicians ready to halt the healthcare system in Turkey’

* Photo: TTB

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The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and the Members of the Parliament who are also physicians themselves held a press conference at the Parliament yesterday (January 13) and addressed the reporters about the withdrawal of the legislative proposal foreseeing improvements in the wages and employee personal rights of physicians by disregarding the Parliamentary bylaw and its postponement to an uncertain date.

The conference was attended by TTB Central Council members as well as Republican People's Party (CHP) MPs Ali Fazıl Kasap, Ali Şeker, Candan Yüceer, Cihangir İslam, Murat Emir, Mustafa Adıgüzel, Servet Ünsal, Tekin Bingöl, Veli Ağbaba, Yüksel Özkan; Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MPs Ayşe Sürücü, Habip Eksik, Hüda Kaya, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, Sait Dede, Züleyha Gülüm; İYİ Party MP Arslan Kabukçuoğlu.

'Health workers resign and go abroad'

Taking the floor first at the press conference, main opposition CHP İstanbul MP Ali Şeker lashed out at the stepback despite the promises made to healthcare workers to improve their wages and employee personal rights and the legislative proposal that was drafted.

Şeker underlined that the healthcare workers who cannot get their labor's worth resign and go abroad to work there.

Starvation line or turnover pressure

TTB Central Council Chair Prof. Şebnem Korur-Fincancı also said that while the physicians working in the public sector are forced to work for wages almost as low as the starvation line, the ones working in the private sector are forced to work under a turnover pressure.

She noted that the number of physicians who get a document of good conduct from the TTB to work abroad has increased from 59 to 1,405 as a result of these working conditions. "This is the reason why we have been struggling for our rights," said Korur-Fincancı and added:

"We know that our colleagues working in this field are ready to halt the healthcare system except for emergency services. We say that the political authority must hear this voice and make a regulation swiftly."

'Erroneous health policies led to deaths'

Dr. Çiğdem Arslan, a member of the TTB Central Council, read out the press statement on behalf of the healthcare workers.

"In the face of gradually increasing workload during the pandemic, the government has thanked (!) physicians with worsening working conditions, let alone making efforts to give them their labor's worth," said Dr. Arslan and recalled that their request for officially and legally recognizing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as an occupational disease for healthcare workers has been rejected and a causal link is sought to do so in individual cases, with healthcare workers asked to present evidence.

Underlining that "the erroneous health policies during the pandemic have also barred the routine healthcare services and led to extra deaths", the TTB recalled that the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) has not yet shared information about the extra deaths with the public.

The statement also raised concerns about the "aggravated violence" against healthcare workers in Turkey.

Noting that "the government and Health Ministry could no longer stay silent in the face of these requests and submitted a legislative proposal to the Parliament," the TTB said that "the Health Minister did not make a single explanation to physicians about the withdrawn proposal." (AS/SD)