The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has warned that Turkey’s healthcare budget for 2021 is insufficient considering the COVID-19 pandemic is in rise. Leaving a year behind with high inflation and the devaluation of the Turkish Lira that has shrunk budgets in dollar terms is worsening the current picture. On 17 November, Duvar English published the statements of TTB Central Council member Dr. Deniz Erdoğdu on this issue. For him COVID-19 pandemic has deepened and the healthcare system has been pushed to its limits. You can read Duvar English’s news below:
“The healthcare budget for next year should be at least 10 percent of the general budget, according to TTB Central Council member Dr. Deniz Erdoğdu.
“The budget of the Health Ministry should be suitable for pandemic conditions. The share of preventative rather than remedial health services should be increased,” Erdoğdu said.
“In our country, low-income workers have to work long hours in unhealthy conditions, earning wages that put them at poverty and hunger levels. Due to high inflation leading to the consumption of unsafe food, malnutrition and poor housing conditions, they are getting sick easier and more frequently, making COVID-19 more severe,” Erdoğdu said.
The TTB said that a wealth tax should be considered and that taxes on basic needs such as food, electricity, water, transportation should be abolished or reduced. The organization added that minimum wage income earners should not be taxed, and called for the status of private and city hospitals to be changed to public and state hospitals.”
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