Turkish authorities have done little or nothing to inform the Kurdish population about the bird flu disease, currently spreading across the country. When bird flew was detected in the non-Kurdish western Turkey last year, however, the authorities instantly presented information on how life stocks were to be killed. Follow-up guidance on possibly infected people was also given. (12-JAN-06)
This article, based on a press release from the Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurds, was edited for republication here by HRH / Niels Jacob Harbitz.
-The discrimination experienced in relation to the bird flu epidemic is only the most recent example of the marginalisation the Kurdish population in Turkey is generally experiencing, says Liv Kjolseth, left, the Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurdish People´s (RKR) information officer. -Under-investment in the health sector in Kurdish areas, now threatening people’s lives, is the norm. -RKR is concerned about the situation in southeast Turkey after the outbreak of bird flew, the organisation emphasises in a press release today.
Too little, too late for a family who lost three children
1 January, Mehmet Ali Kocyigit (14) died of bird flew. Since then, his two siblings have also passed away, all for the same reason. The children were Kurds from the city of Dogubayazit in Turkey. 95 percent of the Kurdish population in Turkey lives in poor rural areas, predominantly located in the southeast Turkey, where breeding of chicken is common, creating a likely transmission environment for the disease to humans. The Kocyigit family held chicken in their back yard. Hence, the children were often in contact with the birds through caretaking and play. Zeki Kocyigit, the children’s father, took the children to the doctor when they developed flu-like symptoms, but the family was sent home with merely an infusion. When the children only got worse, the doctor was again consulted and suspicion of bird flu arose when the father explained how the children had been playing with birds that had died of illness. Unfortunately the disease was not discovered in time and the parents lost three of their children.
Probably many undiagnosed, unrecorded or even hidden cases
So far, only 14 cases of bird flu among humans have been officially detected in Turkey, with the three Kocyigit children the only fatal outcomes. A recent publication by Dr. Anna Thorson at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, however, concludes that there are probably many undiagnosed, unrecorded or even hidden cases of both infected and dead around Turkey. Furthermore, there is reason to believe that most of those are to be found in the Kurdish areas.
Appeal
RKR ask the Norwegian government to contact Turkish authorities with an offer of vaccines, should this be a necessity. It is important that Norway show solidarity with Turkey in this difficult situation and contribute to stopping this virus.
