Physicians reiterate their demand for a law against violence in healthcare

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Amid the recent attacks against healthcare workers in Turkey, the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has released a statement and announced that if no steps are taken for the "Law Draft Against Violence in Healthcare", one of its 10 urgent requests, they will be on strike on March 14-15.

In a statement yesterday (February 24), the TTB said:

We wake up to a new day by hearing news of violence in healthcare everyday; we are unfortunately subjected to violence in healthcare every day. The failure to take measures, to enact a comprehensive law and to enforce the law currently in effect, coupled with us being targeted on TV, lead to new incidents ov violence.

Referring to the recent incidents in Turkey, the TTB recalled that while a physician was subjected to the violence of a patient's relative in Şırnak after recommending a medical intervention in the face of their request for a serum, another physician in Ankara was subjected to violence by a patient after refusing to prescribe medication without seeing a medical report.

Accordingly, the TTB reminded the Justice Ministry and the Board of Judges and Prosecutors of its application dated January 2022 regarding the Enforcement of the Regulations in Crimes Against Healthcare Workers. The TTB also reiterated its call for fully enacting and enforcing the "Law Draft Against Violence in Healthcare", which the TTB prepared in 2011 and which is now among the 10 urgent requests of the physicians.

The TTB said, "If the necessary steps are not taken for our labor, health and future, especially for our 10 urgent requests, we will be on Great Strike (Duty) on March 14-15. We have no patience left." (AÖ/SD)