Health Ministry scrutinized over lack of Kurdish-language services
Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party MP Semra Güzel presented a parliamentary question to the Health Ministry over its lack of Kurdish-language services on its hotline.
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Pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Semra Güzel submitted a parliamentary question to the Health Ministry over the fact that a ministry hotline operating in six languages lacks a Kurdish unit.
"Not providing a Kurdish-speaking operator on the hotline is a major problem for Kurdish citizens who don't speak Turkish, but need quality healthcare," Güzel noted.
“In our geography, millions of people speak Kurdish as a mother tongue. This practice of [not providing a Kurdish hotline] acts as a major discrimination compared to people who receive healthcare in their mother tongue,” Güzel said in her parliamentary question.
Güzel also asked how Kurdish patients received treatment from the Health Ministry, and specifically how the patient-doctor dialogue was ensured in such cases.
The Health Ministry's International Patient Support Unit and Hotline currently provide services in Arabic, Farsi, Russian, English, German and French.