Ankara Medical Chamber (ATO) has recently released a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) report.
Stating that although Global Influenza Programme, released by World Health Organization (WHO) for 2019-2030, requires stocking PPE, ATO says that there is no adequate provision of essential PPE for healthcare workers fighting COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.
The report says that in a hospital in Turkey’s Ankara, anesthetists without any PPE are under pressure of attending to patients and only the doctors refusing to work without adequate PPEs are provided with PPE.
According to ATO’s report, FFP2 masks are often torn, revealing the poor quality in the available PPE. Face masks, medical gloves, and sanitizers are often stolen due to the deficiency. FFP2 masks and protective face shields have been provided by ATO in many hospital units
The report also notes that as many hospitals provide each healthcare worker with one mask per day for extended use, many healthcare workers in some private hospitals declared as pandemic hospitals buy medical masks and N95 masks with their own means.
Stating that the healthcare workers in private hospitals report that the hospital administrations issue warnings as “No masks on, if not sick” to bring down the costs, the Medical Chamber underlines that the private hospital workers demand their workplaces to be inspected properly.
