Prosperous Yet Unhealty

1.3 percent of the Turks living in the German city of Dusseldorf are seeking remedy for health problems from "Muslim preachers" and "home-made medicine" according to a research by Kocaeli University staff. The ratio remains as low as 0.4 percent in the research base Kocaeli, an industrial hub in northwest Turkey. The research also shows that Turks in Dusseldorf choose their doctors according to their genders and religious beliefs.

Conducted by Assistant Prof. Fikriye Toker of Kocaeli University Medical College the research focuses on Turks’ capacities in apprehending and using health services in the countries they have emigrated. Comparing Turks inhabited in Germany and Turkey respectively the research was implemented in one year between October 2003-October 2004, in Dusseldorf, Germany and Kocaeli, Turkey.

The findings

* There exits 89 hospital beds per 10 thousand people in Dusseldorf against 18.1 beds in Kocaeli.

* There exits one doctor per 472 people in Düsseldorf against 1 doctor per 1370 people in Kocaeli.

According to a 2000 research by State Institute for Statistics (DIE) Kocaeli with USD 7,556 Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP) appears as the most prosperous of Turkey’s 81 provinces.

Yet, with a life expectancy of 64 years for men and 70 years for women Kocaeli remains 10 years behind that of Düsseldorf.

nearly

*In Dusseldorf 1.6 percent of the population are without health security while this is five times worse for those living in Kocaeli with 8.47 percent.

*62.9 percent of the Turks living in Dusseldorf visit a doctor when they don't feel fine, while this rate nearly halves to 33.8 percent in Kocaeli.

According to the research 80 percent of the Turks living in Dusseldorf see doctor when they get sick, while the inhabitants of Kocaeli appear not as hasty in applying to a health center. Instead they seek relief through self efforts. Just 70 percent of citizens living in Kocaeli say they apply to doctors when they get sick.

Doctor's gender matters :

1.3 of the Turkish inhabitants of Dusseldorf seeks remedy from "Muslim preachers" and from "home made medicine" in order to relive from ailing health whereas this rate much lower, 0.4 percent, in Kocaeli while Turks living in Dusseldorf say they choose their doctors according to their religious beliefs and genders. (YS/CC/YE)