After a group of Turkish doctors helped their Uzbek counterparts in a program organized by the Health Ministry earlier this month, doctors from Bosnia-Herzegovina had the opportunity to benefit from Turkey's experience in fighting the coronavirus.
Doctors from the Balkan country spent two days in Turkey for firsthand observation of Turkish health care staff’s fight against the pandemic, thanks to a program organized by the ministry and the Alliance of International Doctors (AID), a nongovernmental organization. They learned about measures to deal with the coronavirus outbreak and treatments for it.
Aida Pilav, head of Sarajevo Canton’s Public Health Institute, who was among the delegations of medical professionals, said it has been a fruitful visit. Pilav told Anadolu Agency (AA) Wednesday that they had a chance to compare their methods with those being used in Turkey and determined the areas they need to improve in.
“We are particularly impressed with the cycle of information network between health care staff. Our purpose (in Sarajevo) is to improve information flow about the pandemic now,” she said. Pilav said in Turkey, the staff made regular visits to those in quarantine, but Bosnia-Herzegovina was not able to do so due to a shortage of resources. She added that they might set up mobile crews to monitor people in the risk group.
Vedran Jakupovic, Bosnia-Herzegovina's representative for the AID, said they had the opportunity to see the cycle of the disease a COVID-19 patient goes through during a visit to the capital Ankara. Jakupovic praised the "Life Fits into Home" app developed by Turkey’s Health Ministry, saying it helped maintain the safety of the public and individuals. Jakupovic said they may create a similar infrastructure in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He said they also discussed with their Turkish counterparts how to overcome problems regarding drug imports.
Bosnia-Herzegovina has so far reported 26,081 COVID-19 cases. Though 18,634 patients in the country have recovered, the death toll has reached 790. Turkey plans to continue to share its experience in fighting the coronavirus pandemic with other countries.
