Two Cyprus Turkish Medical Unions have said that “Our total number of cases exceeded our hospital capacity. In quarantine hotels and dormitories where we transfer our patients, effective physician/nurse follow-up cannot be carried out. The administration imposes increasing responsibility on healthcare professionals, but does not share the same authority.”
The Cyprus Turkish Medical Association (KTTB) and the Cyprus Turkish Physicians Union (Tıp-İş) emphasised that social struggle, solidarity and cooperation are essential with the Covid-9 pandemic affecting millions of people all over the world and collapsing economies. They called on the government and the Ministry of Health for urgent action to improve its structure, healthcare personnel numbers and organisation.
Noting that physicians are aware of their duties and responsibilities and are in the field, physicians’ organisations demanded that “Managers should immediately provide the necessary conditions for the modern and sufficient health care and protection of the health of every individual living in this country in cooperation with the healthcare workers and organisations.”
Noting that the total number of cases exceeded the capacity of the hospital, the health organisations emphasized that physicians and healthcare professionals were tired and depressed because of the problems that could not be overcome, the lack of organisation, and the rapid patient circulation due to a lack of beds; “As if all this was not enough, the pandemic process is being used for political interests, to attribute the deficiencies of the administration to healthcare workers and to create a conflicted environment,” they said.
The joint statement made by the two health organisations said, “It is obvious that there is a management that cannot overcome the problems experienced in the face of the incidents that we have warned about and tried to explain without ceasing, but the reopening of the country went ahead without adequate preparation and organisation.”
In the statement, it was noted that health organisations had warned about the second wave of Covid-19 and conveyed what needs to be done, as they had warned months before the first case was seen.
Today’s statement went on to say:
“Our physicians, who work with great responsibility and devotion, have been forced to grapple with the lack of preparations and the problems in the organisation. The government’s approach is far from being serious, even in the fight against such a serious epidemic, as a result of their populist approach.
“The duty of physicians is to protect the health of our people and to treat our patients in the best way possible in accordance with the most up-to-date scientific guidelines. It is the duty of the administration to provide the best conditions for the examination, treatment and follow-up of our Covid-19 positive patients, suspected cases, their contacts and non-Covid-19 patients.“
The Medical Association and Tıp-İş stated that the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases is not a surprise, they warned about this months ago, that this situation had been anticipated, and yet despite their warnings, the government said: “Everything is under control, there is nothing to worry about“. Such rhetoric has led to a state of lethargy.
Yeniduzen