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Report shows the impact on health of war in Turkey’s Kurdish region

‘In Diyarbakir, 8-10 young people are shot dead in the head every day. These events affect the personnel working there like us. They affect everybody working there. A physician does not want to work there.’

Doctors working in the mainly Kurdish southeast region of Turkey - the scene of fighting between government forces and the armed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) - are under severe stress and many have left the region, according to a Turkish Medical Association (TMA) report just published in English.

Many of the doctors posted there have asked to be reappointed. Others have been sent out of the region without their consent. There are reports of doctors being targeted and murdered by ‘unidentified assailants’. Doctors are reported to be under pressure by both government forces and the PKK to ‘take sides’.

Health personnel have been arrested and even sentenced solely on the grounds that they have treated alleged PKK members. On doctor in Diyarbakir, the capital of the Kurdish region, said that thorough medical examinations of those in custody were sometimes taken by security forces as proof that the doctor is taking sides.

He commented: ‘Let’s suppose that I examined [a prisoner] and found that the man had been suspended on a hanger. I confirm this and write a report. That report may immediately be torn up. I have experienced this...The official can ask: -What are you writing, doctor?- He might ask: -Did you give him a report?- Then he can get the report he wishes from other places.’

Other health problems highlighted by the report include forced migration of people from rural areas to towns in the region due to the war and economic conditions. This has led to fears that there will soon be a huge outbreak of communicable diseases. Malaria is already at epidemic proportions in some areas.

Infant mortality rates are reported to be 50 per cent higher in Diyarbakir than in other areas of Turkey. There are also reports of women’s periods stopping due to the violence and its profound psychological effects.

Lack of medical resources and outreach to rural areas are also a problem combined with communication difficulties between doctors and patients. 67 per cent of doctors report language problems because they cannot speak Kurdish, the main language of the region.

The TMA says medical staff must be trained in working under war conditions and in improving their personal security. It also calls for settlements for migrants to be constructed in or around provincial centres to enable access to medical care.