Health Minister Dr. Koca attended the reception organized on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Medicine Day.
Dr. Koca celebrated the Medicine Day of all healthcare professionals and touched upon the followings in his speech: “We, as all healthcare professionals, are members of a profession that is the best example of the foul-weather friend expression. Being a healthcare professional and a doctor requires to love people and believe in their profession. Being a medical doctor is a privilege, and the responsibility you assume is just as heavy. It requires more responsibility, more sacrifice, and more affection but it is also equally honorary and sublime. Health service is a people-oriented service.”
“As Ministry of Health, we have long been supporting the goal of starting domestic production in critical drugs, vaccines, medical devices and consumables. Ankara City Hospital, which we opened with the participation of our President today, is at the crossroads of the biggest universities of our country such as Hacettepe and METU. This region is a city of education and science as well as a city of health. What we need is to combine education, science and research with health care and transform the region with innovative technologies. We want to bring new expansions together with universities and state hospitals. We made legal arrangements for this purpose. According to this practice, which will take effect upon the completion of legislation, individual contracts will be made to guarantee service, education and research responsibilities of medical doctors who are also faculty members of the universities.
We cannot approve violence against anyone, and violence against healthcare professionals is a very sad issue. Healthcare professionals are also among the victims of violence. This is an important problem not only for us but for many countries. It is impossible to accept the violence against the healthcare professionals who try to carry out their professions, working day and night. I believe that we have to develop an attitude towards violence as a society, not just as a Ministry of Health. It is not only a matter of approaching the issue as a problem of public order and finding its solution in only one point. We have to increase our measures with a versatile approach. We prepared the “Action Plan for Preventing Violence in Health” and started to implement it gradually. Accordingly, besides the penal sanctions, rehabilitation of physical environments where patients and health personnel meet, reducing the excessive workload leading to fatigue and exhaustion, getting rid of the threat of malpractice and compensation, increasing the health literacy of our citizens, developing a new definition of health care and service culture and a number of actions will be implemented. As part of the fight against violence, our Ministry prepared “The Guide on Employee Rights and Security Practices”.
The coat we wear is white, pure and clean, a sign of trust. Achieving this trust is a key to overcome many problems, especially violence. We must provide a service environment where the patient and the doctor will feel secure. Our ultimate vision in health is to ensure adoption of healthy lifestyles by all individuals, guarantee everyone's right to health and provide timely, accessible and qualified healthcare services for all segments of the society. I know we have a lot to do, we have a lot to go. We need to be determined, equipped and prepared with competent staff. It is possible with a strong and qualified health army that values humanity and who has a love for humanity. Our future depends on it” added Dr. Koca.
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