The 5th Health Science Meeting of the Turkic Council was held on 24 December 2020 via video conference by the participation of scientists and representatives of Ministries of Health of Member States-Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Hungary. The meeting was moderated by the General Secretariat of Turkic Council and in the opening session of the meeting, Deputy Minister of Health and Director of Health Science Board of the Turkic Council Prof Dr Emine Alp Meşe delivered a keynote speech. Highlights from Prof Alp Meşe’s address included;
- Close follow-up of activities of the Member States of Turkic Council by international organizations, primarily by the World Health Organization, along with other countries setting an instrumental example
- A rapid kick-off to “Preparations for Turkic Council Pandemic Action Plan” and “COVID-19 Consultation Mechanism” in 2021,
- Holding the 2nd Meeting of the Supply Chain Group of Turkic Council on 21st January 2021.
Having reiterated the current global focus on vaccination, Deputy Minister Prof Dr Meşe stated that Turkey would be pleased to exchange experiences related to vaccination, convenient logistics and identification priority groups, and informed participants about the latest developments regarding vaccination efforts in Turkey.
Prof Dr Arzu Topeli İskit, Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Specialist in Hacettepe University and Member of the Ministry of Health Pandemic Scientific Board, made a presentation on “Treatment and care protocols of COVID-19 inpatients in Intensive Care Units”.
Associate Prof Dr Afşin Emre Kayıpmaz, Emergency Medicine Specialist in Ankara City Hospital and Member of the Ministry of Health Pandemic Scientific Board made a presentation on “Identification of priority groups for vaccination and field practice”.
During the “Question and Answer” session, a series of questions were raised by the member states’
scientists related to on-going vaccine efforts in Turkey, identification of priority groups for vaccination and global vaccination manufacturing and vaccination practices. Deputy Minister of Health Prof Dr Emine Alp Meşe, Ministry of Health Pandemic Scientific Board Members Associate Prof Dr Afşin Emre Kayıpmaz and Prof. Dr. Arzu Topeli İskit, Ministry of Health Vaccination Scientific Board Prof Dr Aykut Özdarendeli were among the panellists answering the questions.
In the closing session, Deputy Minister of Health Prof Dr Emine Alp Meşe shared a proposal about making a presentation during the next meeting including the holistic process of manufacturing, storage and administration of vaccines. Prof Meşe concluded that the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey was developing a website dedicated to informing public on all aspects of vaccines, and once the website would be available in English it would also be beneficial for the use of Member States of Turkic Council.