ISTANBUL, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of Turkish healthcare workers heeded the call of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) to pause all non-emergency medical work nationwide on Wednesday to call for better working conditions.
The move aims to achieve "better pay, better working conditions, and countermeasures to prevent violence against healthcare workers," the TTB tweeted, adding emergency patients, pregnant women, cancer patients, intensive care patients, and coronavirus patients are still served.
More than 100,000 doctors have been victims of physical or verbal violence over the last 11 years, and at least 10 have been killed by patients, TTB said.
This is the fourth such call by TTB in the past six months, with health worker unions saying harsh working conditions and violence have compelled many practitioners to quit the sector or seek opportunities abroad.
According to figures provided by the TTB, the number of doctors who left Turkey in 2021 was around 1,400, up from 59 in 2012.
Health workers are also demanding better pay, citing surging living costs brought by record-high inflation that Turkey hasn't seen in decades. ■
