Social Sciences Board Meets Under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Health

In the coronavirus epidemic, the Social Sciences Board, which will work in areas such as sociology, communication, psychology, sociology of religion, statistics, held its first meeting. The meeting was held with the method of video conferencing and the Minister of Health Dr. Fahrettin Koca chaired.

Reminding that the second phase of the pandemic, which they called “controlled social life”, was passed, Minister Koca underlined that they were aware of the social problems that emerged during this period. Emphasizing that combating the epidemic is a struggle to be carried out mostly with social science data and approaches, Koca continued his words as follows:

“As we have seen recently in the example of virus infection to 190 people due to a patient visit, it is important to systematically anticipate and propose measures of cultural behavior. You also know that this visible sample has inconspicuous counterparts. In our experience, combating the epidemic is a social psychology management issue. Every sensitivity, from religious sensitivities to cultural sensitivities, must find its place in the equation. As you know, the sanction power of fear is decreasing and even the worry a few weeks ago is devalued. Therefore, in the next period, we are concerned about the development of resistance to the measures, although the risk continues. This is one of our primary issues. ”

Minister Koca stated that they benefited from the experiences of the epidemic history throughout the struggle and said, “The compliance with the measures will be realized at a natural adoption level will also depend on the supporting data that the communication field will offer us.”

Minister Koca noted: “Beyond the limiting nature of positive sciences, we tend to see members of social sciences that take into account creative dynamics not only as a scientific committee, but also as a brainstorming group. We need ideas and intuition as well as we need information. What will be the behavior of people and society? The prediction of this is extremely valuable. In this new phase, we need to examine the denominator of the collective behavior against the epidemic, the main motivation factor. The Social Sciences Board will take recommendations and these decisions will be shared with the public when necessary. ”

In the continuation of the meeting, members of the board gave information about their work and expressed their suggestions.