'COVID-19 pandemic reveals injustice in access to health services'

By Merve Yildizalp

ANKARA (AA) - The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly exposed the injustice in access to health services, Turkey's health minister said on Sunday.

This also makes it necessary to adopt equity-based and people-centered approaches in the construction of health systems, Fahrettin Koca told a meeting of G20 health ministers in Italy via video link, according to a statement by the Turkish Health Ministry.

Delivering a speech during the session on assessing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on global health and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, Koca stressed that the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on human health, causing high death rates worldwide.

"We need to adopt a renewed long-term vision that includes achieving universal health inclusiveness as the prominent goal of the health-related sustainable development goals," Koca said.

The pandemic has shown that it is the right of all societies to have a human-centered healthcare system based on values, patient safety, and quality, Koca said, urging the G20 countries to fulfill their responsibilities related to this.

The two-day meeting started on Sunday in Rome.

In three sessions, the participants will discuss the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, along with the prevention of future pandemics and ways to counter the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The participants are expected to give a message of strengthened cooperation, solidarity, and equality at the meeting, according to Italian media outlets.

The event will conclude on Monday with the adoption of a health declaration.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz