Health Minister Fahrettin Koca answered journalists' questions after the Cabinet Meeting at the Presidential Complex.
Upon a journalist's evaluation of the processes in the press and social media regarding the processes of gender reassignment under the age of 18, in the article written by the faculty members of Istanbul University (IU) Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Koca said, "This is an area in which we act very sensitively. First of all, there is the health aspect of the business. Our stance is very clear if the transactions in question have a health need. If the subject is the health of a citizen, we will do our best to solve this health problem with all our means. This applies to any health problem. This is unacceptable if the aforementioned transactions are applied to those under the age of 18. We will never allow this. We have very clear rules in this regard and we operate them. The investigation of our ministry continues. We will also share the results of our investigation with you."
THE CLAIM: "LACK OF MATERIAL IN GATA PREVENTED SURGERY"
Asked by a journalist that there were claims that there was a shortage of medical supplies in some hospitals and that treatment could not be provided due to this, Koca used following words:
"The allegations are completely baseless. Our patient was admitted to Gülhane Education Research and Hospital Emergency Service on Friday, 18 August 2023, due to a total amputation caused by squeezing the first finger of his right hand into the door. Our patient was evaluated by the orthopedics clinic and emergency replantation surgery was planned. The physician who will perform the operation requested that the 11-0 prolene suture required during the operation be prepared and that the patient be taken into surgery immediately. Upon giving false information that the material, which is not in the operating room warehouse but in the main warehouse of the hospital, is not in the hospital, Ankara Etlik City Hospital was contacted and the material was procured. After the material was procured, the patient was taken into surgery and the operation, which lasted about 5 hours, was successfully completed. It is also out of the question to inform the patient or his relatives that the surgery will be performed or that they should provide it after the material is provided."