Turkish Medical Association: Health Minister should either publish data transparently or resign

Click to read the article in Turkish

After Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca admitted that Turkey was only publishing the number of Covid-19 cases with symptoms, the Turkish Medical Association called on the ministry to publish figures transparently.

"As Mr. Minister knows, every case is considered a patient scientifically," it said.

Koca said on Wednesday (September 30) that the ministry was disclosing the number of not cases but "patients," which he defined as cases with symptoms.

Koca's admission came after an opposition MP revealed a document from the ministry's internal laboratory system, which showed that 29,377 new Covid-19 cases were found on September 10 whereas the ministry reported 1,512 "patients" on that day.

The TTB noted that it had been expressing concerns about the transparency ministry figures since the start of the outbreak in Turkey and sent the ministry more than 30 letters about the issue.

"The data stated in the turquoise table has lost its validity" after the minister's statement, according to the TTB.

"While Minister Koca changed the term 'number of daily cases' to 'number of daily patients,' he replaced 'intubated patients' with 'severely ill patients'; he damaged the trust relationship, which is the first requirement of the physician-patient relationship," said the statement. "The trust relationship between the Ministry and the society has also been damaged. An assuring fight has not been made against the pandemic."

Minister: We are protecting our national interests

Following criticism by opposition politicians and health workers' organizations, Minister Koca said on Twitter yesterday (October 1) that "We should know that our state is protecting our national interests as much as public health in the process of the fight against the outbreak."

"Because, the outbreak is affecting all fields of life. The criticism from some people who don't have liabilities is not different from looking at one point of a photograph with a lens and looking for dirt," he added.

The TTB statement said that "economy and politics overtook science" in the time of the pandemic. "The aim should be fighting the pandemic."

The ministry's science board, which was formed after the start of the outbreak, also has a responsibility for what happened, it further said.

The association called on the ministry for transparent management of the pandemic, do effective contact tracing and include all the public, especially the TTB, in the fight against the virus.

WHO's mortality codes

"Mr. Minister, you have never used the coding system recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which the TTB has insistently stated. You are not stating the real numbers. Showing low death statistics from the Covid-19 pandemic is also great injustice and disrespect to the public.

"In response to the statement of Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca that 'Every case is not a patient,' we, as the TTB, say, "With or without symptoms, very case is a Covid-19 patient." (EKN/VK)