Deputy Minister of Health, Prof. Emine Alp Meşe, attended the G20 Health Ministers video conference held under the presidency of Saudi Arabia.
Attending the meeting representing Turkey, Deputy Minister Meşe offered her views on COVID-19 and value-based healthcare services, digital health, patient safety and epidemic preparedness, which are health priorities identified for this year's G20 meeting, and also shared Turkey's knowledge, experience and best practices.
It was agreed that member states share their national COVID-19 related best practices in the G20 Country Best Practices Document.
Turkey's COVID-19 Response Efforts
Within the framework of Planning the Healthcare System Capacity, Turkey introduced some changes to its healthcare system long before the first COVID-19 case was detected in the country.
Hospitals with a certain number of infection control experts, adequate number of personnel and physical infrastructure, including private hospitals were designated as pandemic hospitals.
Even though Turkey already has a very strong intensive care capacity, it was increased in such a way as to respond to even the worst case scenario. Joint efforts were kicked off with the private sector to manufacture ventilators.
All services, including testing and treatment, is offered free-of-charge to everyone in public, private and university hospitals in line with universal health coverage and "leave no one behind" principle.
In January, Turkey developed training modules for healthcare staff to prepare its healthcare system to the outbreak. All healthcare staff members had already been trained by the time when the first case was detected in Turkey.
All schools were closed right after the first case. To close any gaps in education, distance learning modules were developed. A curfew was imposed or people below 20 and over 65. All the needs of those subject to this curfew were met by the government and local administrations.
Entry and exit bans were introduced to provinces with high number of cases. All recreational areas and shopping malls were closed down and mass gatherings were cancelled. Flexible working opportunities were introduced for public employees. In order to minimize the risks faced by the ones who have to leave their homes, the use of masks in public areas were made mandatory.
The Ministry of Health has made effective use of social media to inform the public and share accurate information. The Minister of Health has held daily briefings.
"A comprehensive follow-up strategy has been developed"
A comprehensive follow-up strategy has been developed under "Comprehensive Contact Tracing and Stock Planning." Contact tracing was performed by the MoH for all cases and 97.5% of all contacts have been identified and tested.
To effectively manage the process, a scientific committee was created in January, during the early stages of the outbreak. From contact tracing to comprehensive test strategy, all of Turkey's successful strategies have been shaped by the recommendations of the scientific committee.
Testing capacity has been increased considerably. Today, the average number of tests performed daily is over 40 thousand.
Virus isolated
The Ministry of Health has successfully isolated the virus in its own laboratories. This achievement has paved the way for further research in vaccine development in research organizations, including universities and laboratories. The Ministry has also developed a database for innovative COVID-19 related projects.
At the end of the meeting, the “G20 Country Best Practices Document” highlighting international solidarity, was adopted.
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