World Health Organization hails Turkiye over migrant health

By Mehmet Kara and Zeynep Rakipoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - An official from the World Health Organization (WHO) hailed Turkiye on Thursday for offering health services equally to all migrants.

Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, was speaking at a high-level meeting on health and migration in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul.

He said the reason Istanbul was chosen for the meeting is that Turkiye is the country that hosts the highest number of refugees in the world and provides health services equally to all migrants it hosts without any discrimination.

Touching on the issue of migrants’ health, Kluge highlighted that they want to create a vision to turn the issue of migration into an opportunity rather than a pressure on societies.

Saying how migrants are individuals who contribute historically, culturally, socially and economically to societies, he said they want to carry out joint studies in this regard.

Kluge also said he was pleased that Turkiye has provided medical aid to more than 160 countries around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.

European Union Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas, attending the meeting via video conference, said they are facing a new health crisis with the war in Ukraine. Noting that the EU is carrying out serious work to prevent war and to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible, Schinas said "we are working on never allowing war again.”

Explaining that there was an influx of refugees to the EU with the war, he noted that they are trying to manage this crisis as EU institutions, countries and people.