Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality (ABB) Mayor Mansur Yavaş said, “We started to carry out the free SMA test on February 27, 2021, breaking new ground in Turkey. In December 2021, the Ministry of Health started to implement it”, “Mansur Bey, exemplary “The more valuable it is to have a sample, the more valuable it is to take a sample. However, there is no exemplary situation regarding the SMA screening tests you claim to have done.”
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca made a statement with the headline, “Kemal Bey, we are already doing it” regarding the statements made by the Nation Alliance Presidential Candidate and CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a broadcast he attended, regarding Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) patients. Stating that the SMA screening program for premarital couples started in 2021 and that the Ministry of Health made extensive preparations when the screening programs were started, Minister Koca, in his share, said, “Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also touched on the subject of SMA patients in a Youtube channel program he was a guest. Sensitivity is admirable, but his promise was to implement an established practice of our Ministry that has already been implemented.”
‘We are proud of being an example to our ministries’ Upon this statement of Minister Koca, ABB President Mansur Yavaş wrote on his Twitter account, “Mr. Minister, as you know, we started to carry out the free SMA test on February 27, 2021, by signing a first in Turkey. In December 2021, the Ministry of Health implemented it. We are proud to set an example for our ministries,” he shared. Minister Koca, quoting Yavaş’s tweet, said, “Mr. Mansur, as valuable as being an example is, it is as valuable to take a sample. However, there is no exemplary situation regarding the SMA screening tests you claim to have done. SMA scans are not only for married couples, but also for newborn babies. Stating that there is no application of ABB for SMA patients in the records of the General Directorate of Public Health, Koca said, “There are no applications for screening of certain diseases in the community. It is a public health duty and carried out by the General Directorate of Public Health. Those who want to take part in the execution of these activities contribute to these activities by obtaining permission from the General Directorate of Public Health. The main reason for this is to keep a record of every step taken in a single center and to take measures for an effective struggle. Permission in our records Your application has not been found. Did you have an application that we did not know about? Even if you did these scans without permission and for ‘example’ purposes, I would like to know where you did it. In our records, there is no laboratory license of your municipality that has these facilities. Where did you do the tests you said you did?” he explained. ‘I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU WITH SOME INFORMATION’
Minister Koca, who said, ‘I have some questions that contain some information for you,’ listed his questions to Yavaş; “It is a must to share the results of the screening tests with the General Directorate of Public Health. If you have started a sample application as you claim and have tested, have you reported the results of these tests to our General Directorate of Public Health? What is the total number of tests you claim? From the date you specified, in 2021, in 2022 and in 2023. How many ‘sample’ tests did you perform per year in the year 2012? Did you find any carrier couples as a result of the tests you claimed to have done? If yes, did you report them to our Ministry as a legal and humanitarian obligation? Did you scan for newborn SMA? If so, did you report it to the Ministry? Have you detected any cases? If so, have you reported it to our Ministry as a legal and humanitarian obligation? Mr. Yavaş, I know the answer to all these questions. I will wait for your answer. I will wait for your answer in the presence of our nation on the evening of May 14 I hope it’s not like your explanations.”