The massive destruction caused by the Maraş-centred earthquake has showed that Turkey’s health system, much-praised by the AKP-MHP government, is corrupted. In the first days of the earthquake, search and rescue teams could not arrive in the earthquake-hit cities and the Ministry of Health failed to respond to injured citizens.

A volunteer health worker, who has been helping the injured and traumatized citizens since the first days of the earthquake, told ANF about the shortcomings caused by the earthquake that occurred one month ago.

"HEALTH MINISTRY FAILED TO RESPOND TO EARTHQUAKE"

The volunteer health worker stated that many health workers went to the earthquake-hit area voluntarily with no assignment by the Ministry of Health, which rejected the requests by health workers to help the survivors.

He said: “We have been here since the first day of the earthquake. The Health Ministry has not been active. Most of the hospitals here were heavily damaged, and many of our colleagues died. Surviving colleagues were either helping their relatives under the rubble or they were injured. But the Ministry was doing nothing to help the survivors. We wanted to come to the area voluntarily after we heard about the earthquake from the surrounding provinces. Some of our friends requested the Ministry to go to the area. Most of the assignments were rejected, while our friends who were assigned waited for 22 hours for a plane that was supposed to land at Adana airport. After the Adana airport, they waited for 10 hours, then the authorities started to send our friends to the areas selected randomly.

The volunteer health worker revealed that the health workers who were not assigned by the ministry or who did not ask permission from the ministry, came to the area by their own means. He added that they arrived in Hatay province on the third day of the earthquake.

He remarked: “People and volunteers were trying to reach here at a time when there was a lack of coordination. When we came to the city, we realized that neither the Ministry of Health nor the Ministry of Interior and state-run AFAD were involved in rescue operations and relief efforts. The volunteer said that soldiers dispatched to the area were not experienced in the search and rescue efforts.

"PEOPLE PULLED THEIR RELATIVES FROM DEBRIS ON THEIR OWN"

The volunteer pointed out that the people tried to remove their relatives who were under the wreckage with the cranes they found with their own efforts. He said that volunteers like him established relations with the survivors and helped them.

He added that state-run rescue organization AFAD launched rescue efforts only in certain buildings that collapsed after the earthquake.

"ELECTRICITY WAS NOT PROVIDED, PORTABLE TOILETS CAME LATE"

The volunteer said that there is no concern about a major epidemic at the moment as a result of the work they have done in the region through their own means, yet this does not mean that current circumstances may not lead to major epidemics.

He said: “There is no epidemic under the current conditions, but some cases of scabies have been reported here. Lice have also become very common. The villages have been overpopulated due to the poor sheltering, which led to an increase in upper respiratory tract infections. Children are especially affected by it. We have reported vaginal infections and vaginal fungal infections due to failures in access to toilets and showers in villages where electricity is not provided consciously so that people can leave. Yet, we cannot talk about major outbreaks currently in the earthquake-hit areas.

The health worker said that they observed a lack of organization, adding that if the measures are not taken quickly, huge epidemics may soon erupt. He remarked: “Toilet waste goes to the Orontes River, which may cause epidemics later.”

"TRAUMATIZED HEALTH WORKERS FORCED TO WORK"

The volunteer concluded: “The Health Ministry has forced the traumatized and quake-survivor health workers to work in the area for the last two days. This is not an ethical situation. While we are trying to protect our colleagues here, making sure that they do not stay here for more than seven days, the Health Ministry should not keep them busy here.”