Not one obstetrician in the district with the second-highest birthrate in Turkey
The district of Beytüşşebap is in the southeastern province of Şırnak, which is the province with the second-highest birthrate in the country, lacks a single obstetrician or gynecologist. Doctors appointed to districts in Şırnak frequently have resigned from their positions.
Hacı Bişkin/ DUVAR
The district of Beytüşşebap is in the southeastern province of Şırnak, which is the province with the second-highest birthrate in the country, lacks a single obstetrician or gynecologist. The district center is home to 20,000 people, while those living in the 27 villages that are located within Beytüşşebap all seek treatment in the area's one state hospital.
Districts in the province of Şırnak have suffered for years from a lack of doctors. In 2017 in the district of Cizre, 31-year-old Feyruz Polat, a mother of three who was eight months pregnant at the time, died together with her child because of a lack of an obstetrician in the area. Doctors appointed to the district reportedly frequently resign from their positions.
“The Beytüşşebap State Hospital will have a one-day obstetrician/gynecologist polyclinic on Nov. 14,” the hospital said in announcement earlier this week, though local medical experts say this is insufficient:
“The Şırnak provincial department of health needs to work seriously on this issue,” said Şırnak Chamber of Doctors President Serdar Küni.
“The winter is approaching and the weather in Beytüşşebap is very harsh. Sometimes the roads are closed for months because of snow. Transporting pregnant women is a huge problem. The lack of doctors is an unacceptable situation,” Küni said.