Health threats in Turkey

Health Threats in Turkey

One of the most substantial health threats in Turkey is infant and maternal mortality. The problem unlike many diseases is universal as it can potentially affect any family, not just families in a certain area or with a certain health risks. Turkey has an infant mortality rate of 42 per 1,000 live births ranking 30th worst in the world.

Kaul and Tomaselli-Moschovitis 42) Additionally, 180 per 100,000 women in Turkey die during pregnancy, childbirth or directly following delivery.

Kaul and Tomaselli-Moschovitis 292) the ministry of health and other expert organizations make clear that the concerns associated with infant and maternal mortality are universal, as women in many socioeconomic and regional groups are fundamentally unaware of the necessity for prenatal care, trained delivery as well as post natal follow-up and many areas of Turkey are recognized as having limited access to basic health care. ("Let My Baby Live..." NP) national media campaign was launched in 2006 entitled "Let My Baby Live" and "is a joint project by the Ministry of Health and the European Union." The goal of the campaign was to utilize many recognized and popular public figures to blitz the public with information on the need to provide such basic health care for women, to ensure that possible concerns can be detected and resolved, before they end in mortality of infant or mother. In November 2007, the program held a press conference to announce the successful goal met, being that they had reached 66% of the population of Turkey with their message.

The campaign was carried out in 16 provinces that have limited access to health care services and face regional disparities in terms of health services. Interviews and meetings were held with the households and mothers, adolescent girls, young mothers in the 15-49 aged group as well as their relatives and husbands were informed about the importance of the medical check-ups before, during and after pregnancy. Media institutions also broadcast informative advertisements and programs during the most popular women-related TV productions. ("Let My Baby Live..." NP)

According to the experts behind the campaign maternal and infant mortality are two of the largest social problems in the nation and the simple fact that many people are intrinsically unaware of the need for pregnancy related care. The value of informing women and their partners of such need is indispensable and especially in the regions that are clearly challenged for medical care.

This media blitz on this particular subject also coincides with a movement in Turkey to develop an e-health system that will allow communications between doctors at different locations as well as secure access for patients regarding health information. This project has been sponsored by the Turkish Ministry of Health to develop a system that allows coordination between medical care providers in different agencies and hospital as well as to help empower patients to take control of their own health as they are offered greater access to information about it. (E-Health Project in Turkey NP) This program could also demonstrate a vital link in the improvement of infant and maternal mortality, as it offers yet another avenue for information dissemination and sharing, especially between hospitals, labs and primary care physicians who could potentially be in varied geographic location, from each other and from the patient. (E-Health Project in Turkey NP) This trend toward modernization in the health care arena is a new one in Turkey as previously Turkey has been reluctant to alter traditional medical care practices and modernize medical care, improving access.

Brennan 210)

Traditional pregnancy care has been provided to women at a local level from trained or lay midwives (there is currently a significant shortage of trained, licensed midwives in Turkey

Weiker 259)) as well as some limited clinic care and hospitals, where they are available, Yet the standard practice has been to seek care only when the patient is aware of a problem and usually during labor, a practice which can often leave women and children at risk for being simply to late to resolve the problem and overcome it. "Approximately 387 maternal deaths occur every year in Turkey and 62% of them are preventable, according to the data provided by the Health Ministry." ("Let My Baby Live..." NP) Other messages of the campaign were to stress the need to avoid high risk pregnancy, prior to age 18 or after age 35 and to stagger pregnancies by two years to help the maternal body recover and be strong enough to care for the developing infant and go through labor successfully. The campaign, promoting these ideas states that it has been successful in reaching its goals, and has currently reached 66% of the population in the regions where the campaign was launched. ("Let My Baby Live..." NP) There is not mention as to whether the campaign will end, or be expanded to a broader audience in Turkey.

Turkey's example program could serve as a template for other health issues that need to be expressed to the public in Turkey and in other nations with challenged health care delivery infrastructures and limited public knowledge of needed care, in pregnancy as well as in disease related conditions. The need to redistribute medical care, across geographical regions can be met to some degree with education, as has been seen in the e-medicine movement, yet Turkey still has many obstacles to overcome to effectively distribute basic and advanced medical care across the nation. Additionally, women have a particularly challenged role, when it comes to health care, as well as other social issues, as the traditional social order frequently puts them in a position of subservience, and they are expected to fulfill traditional roles in this environment without question. Though this is slowly changing, and women have gained a bit more voice especially in education and government the traditional roles are still very intricsic to the nation and the culture.

Weiker 57)

If I were making decisions about the issue of health care and the ongoing health crisis of maternal and infant mortality in Turkey, I would expand the media campaign, through the infrastructure of the culture, to include not only recognized underserved populations but the entire population of the nation. Regardless of the pervasiveness of the idea that care is not needed during this seemingly natural human condition, modern medicine needs to reiterate that care can prevent or avoid completely many often tragic circumstances through very simple cost-effective means.