ISTANBUL - Stating that there is a policy of violence against health workers in the country, ITO Board member Saffet Ercan said: "Health workers do not stop in a country where the law is not recognized and the Constitution is disregarded."

 

Health workers, who have been most affected by the policies of the AKP government, seek the solution by leaving the country. After the elections, the President of the People's Alliance candidate, AKP Chairperson Tayyip Erdoğan, was re-elected as the Presidency, and the number of health workers who went out of the country with the "Good Conduct Certificate" increased. According to the data of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB); The number of those who received a "Good Conduct Certificate" to go abroad in 2020 was 931, 1,405 in 2021, 2,685 in 2022 and 881 in the first 4 months of 2023. TTB announced that the number of health workers who applied for the “Good Conduct Certificate” increased after the May 14 elections.

 

APPLICATIONS DOUBLED

 

Stating that due to AKP's policies and the economic crisis, health workers are constantly looking for an exit to leave the country,Istanbul Medical Chamber (ITO) Board Member (YK) Dr. Saffet Ercan said: "The healthcare professionals have to obtain a TTB 'Good Conduct Certificate' in order to go abroad, we received the data we obtained from these applications. We have a research on the point that healthcare professionals have left the country continuously in the 20-year period, the applications made to us doubled in 2023 and especially after the May 14 elections.

 

“TURKEY WILL FACE GREAT DIFFICULTIES IN HEALTH SERVICES ”

 

Reminding that Erdoğan, who said "let them go if they are going" before, made a call to health workers to "return" upon realizing the situation, Ercan said: "These calls will not bring health workers back to the country at this point. The AKP's policies towards healthcare workers reveal the opposite situation. Among the countries included in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED), Turkey has the lowest rate of physicians. Of course, outgoing doctors will undoubtedly cost Turkey. In 2022, 2,500 physicians went abroad. This means: More health workers have left this country than Istanbul Cerrahpasa, Capa and Marmara Medical Faculties combined. We spend country resources on graduating students, but other countries take and evaluate these students. All these efforts go in vain. They leave the country they are in for a better life. Due to the inadequacy of health policies, young dynamic doctors are forced to go to another country. If this is not prevented, Türkiye will face great difficulties in health services in the future.”

 

HEALTH HAZARD WAITING FOR THE PUBLIC!

 

Expressing that this situation will lead to negative consequences in terms of public health, Ercan said: “The lack of physicians; It will mean that a citizen who is ill goes from city to city, hospital to hospital. An ill citizen will no longer be able to find a doctor to treat him. As a health worker, I feel very sorry for this picture that has emerged. In addition, serious disruptions have begun to occur in health appointments even now. We have many colleagues who resigned from public hospitals and went to private hospitals. In a country where the law is not recognized and the Constitution is disregarded, health workers will not stop. We can say that one of the biggest problems waiting for Turkey in the future will be the health system.”

 

'HEALTH WORKERS WANT TO LIVE HUMANELY'

 

Stating that there is serious violence against health workers in the country, Ercan said: “It would be wrong to evaluate the problems of health workers only economically. Due to AKP's health policies, there is a very serious violence against physicians. Many of our colleagues were murdered by their patients in hospitals. Since 2011, violence against doctors in particular has skyrocketed. We now want to establish a democratic relationship with patients. Doctors want to live humanely in this country. Türkiye has fallen below contemporary country standards in recent years. We are going through a period in which arbitrary decisions are decisive in the country and incompetence is rampant. Neither the citizens nor we are responsible for the problem in health care. Responsible for this are those who regulate this health policy."

 

MA / Ferdi Bayram