1 Year Has Passed… The Problems Have Not Gone

February 2023 was the coldest day of 6. It was a day we never wanted to remember. It was a day that should not have been experienced... The air was heavy as lead... My beautiful homeland didn't know what to do. Then we shook ourselves off... We shook off the cold shower and got to work. Those who said 'what can we do, how can we coordinate' from Istanbul, Izmir, Konya, Ankara, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and all over the country, first turned into a tiny snowball, and then that snowball turned into an avalanche. We tried to respond as one country to the disaster of the century with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6. The efforts of those who reached there first to report the shortcomings and the efforts of everyone gave at least some hope to the hearts. Isn't it in our genes to 'come together in the most difficult times'?

EVEN ONE YEAR HAS Elapsed SINCE THE EARTHQUAKE, THE WOUNDS HAVE NOT HELD

A year has passed since the earthquake. Have the wounds been healed? Regarding the question, Health Services Union (SAHİM-SEN) Chairman Özlem Akarken said: “Unfortunately no… There were people who remained under the rubble for days. There were those who lost their spouses, friends, family, streets, avenues, neighborhoods, cities and even their memories. There were those who got out of the rubble, left their injured people or their families who came out of the rubble, and went to their duty hospitals at the first opportunity. There were those who pulled their family out of the rubble by digging the ground with their own hands. Health workers tried to bandage the wounds. But no one could heal their wounds... They asked for appointments, but most of them did not get appointed. Promised but not fulfilled...

WE WANT EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT BUILDINGS, NOT DEVELOPMENT AMNESTY!

Most healthcare workers went to other provinces to establish their lives and order. But there were people who retired because they were not appointed. They could not enter their heavily damaged houses. Those who were able to enter left with a piece of their memories. Neither ASM was built nor hospitals were made durable... Aside from personal rights such as performance payments and salaries; They continue to have housing problems. Family physicians are trying to provide service in containers. We have not forgotten their pain, and we will not forget them... We do not want construction amnesty, we want earthquake-resistant buildings.

PROBLEMS CONTINUE, FAMILY PHYSICIANS PROVIDE SERVICES IN CONTAINERS

Even though 1 year has passed, the problems in the earthquake zone still continue. At the same time, the psychology of healthcare workers, who are also earthquake victims, has not improved, and they have concerns about performance payments, entitlements, salaries, and housing problems. Family health centers are confined to apartment buildings, and hospitals are confined to high-risk areas for earthquakes. While the entire city is being re-planned, family health centers, where the basis and majority of public health services are provided, are not included in the planning. Hospitals are partially included. Do you want a health institution that was destroyed in the earthquake and has dozens of dead inside, or one that is intact and has health workers who can continue to provide health care despite the disaster? We ask this as NGOs. It is impossible for us to accept being treated as if the disaster had never happened and as if we were continuing where we left off.

DON'T LET THE QUALITY STANDARD BE ON THE DOCUMENTS

Quality standards should not remain in words in documents. The first condition for providing and receiving quality service is to live and let others live. Concrete should not be a cause of death for healthcare workers and citizens who want to live and keep alive. The construction process of the hospitals, whose construction decisions were previously taken and whose locations were determined, has started again. We see that the moral motivation of the staff is not taken into account in order to provide qualified health services. TOKİ can build the necessary buildings if desired. Even buildings that have been built but not distributed can be distributed to the beneficiaries. Unfortunately, life in a container is difficult. Most of the newly appointed personnel chose to resign due to housing problems.

IS THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HEALTH WORKERS DURING AN EARTHQUAKE A MYSTERY?

While health institution employees are dealing with their routine problems; On top of the same problems, they still cannot find a safe place to work. They are struggling with financial problems regarding their personal rights, such as power outages, population migration, floods, communication problems, lack of other medical supplies, especially vaccines. Earthquakes still continue, aftershocks never end. Health workers who were affected by the earthquake continue to work and provide health services despite all these psychological difficulties. Safe working areas and working conditions are the responsibility of our state. It is our state that will produce an urgent solution.

WE DON'T LEARN LESSONS FROM THE EARTHQUAKE, WE WANT SOLUTIONS, NOT DECISIONS THAT WILL SAVE THE DAY

The earthquake had many devastating effects, but lessons are still not learned. Family health centers, which are condemned to the bottom of apartment buildings, are not included in the new city planning! We have to build health institutions that are safe, solid and will remain standing and providing service in case of disaster. Health services are important in natural disasters, especially earthquakes. Disaster planning should be done before disasters occur, not after them. Even though we experienced a very serious disaster, strategic solutions were not produced, wounds were not healed and lessons were not learned. "We want serious solutions, not decisions that will pass the day."