Health Minister Dr. Fahrettin Koca answered journalists' questions about the agenda after the Cabinet Meeting held at the Presidential Complex. Concerning the water shortage and epidemic disease claims in Hatay, Minister Koca said, “There is no problem at the moment. However, we recommend that mains water not be used as drinking water in Hatay during this period. We cannot say 'drinkable' without fully determining that water is suitable for drinking. The biggest risk in terms of a possible epidemic would be associated with the drinking water. There is no problem in the general-purpose use of mains water. It can be used for cleaning purposes. AFAD is trying to provide packaged potable water to all regions. Therefore, we can say that there is no problem in terms of water.” Regarding the epidemic risk, Dr. Koca said: “For years, we have a system called syndromic surveillance managed by General Directorate of Public Health. It can be likened to tracing in a pandemic. In other words, if the incoming patient has an infection, this system works to go to the source and determine where it has originated. This system is active. We also have a Public Health Science Commission. They are also constantly working in the field with subgroups. Our commission was Hatay yesterday, making investigations in the whole region. There is no epidemic situation at the moment.” “We have hospitals to evacuate” Referring to the measures taken regarding the hospitals against the earthquake risk, Dr. Koca said, “We will announce in a day or two what we will do about other public hospitals in Cerrahpaşa, Çapa, Istanbul and Ankara. We have hospitals to evacuate. As we take steps in this regard and the results of the structural analysis come out, we will share them with the public. In a day or two, we will make a statement about the status of university and public hospitals and the steps to be taken.” Health services in the earthquake area Giving information about the health services in the earthquake region, Dr. Koca stated that the mobile medical teams conduct extensive examinations, and that the number of patients examined on-site is approaching 300 thousand. Dr. Koca added, “More than 17 thousand physicians and 122 thousand health personnel are on duty in the region. We have provided nearly 3 million primary health care services. Our hospitals, field hospitals, mobile health services, primary health care services in public areas continue without interruption.”
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