Health services will continue uninterrupted during Eid al-Adha

Minister Memişoğlu made a statement to Anadolu Agency (AA) on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.

Memişoğlu, who celebrated the Eid al-Adha of Türkiye and the entire Islamic world, said, "Holidays are valuable times when people come together, friendships are renewed, and resentments are resolved. Holidays are times that make one feel socialization, sharing, caring about the troubles of others, and devotion."

Memişoğlu emphasized that spirituality and mercy are at the core of the holiday and said, "Eid al-Adha is a time when we will feel the joy and happiness of helping others, helping each other, and that goodness should be prioritized. Holidays are times to be spent in order to be happy and peaceful. Sometimes there are those who perceive it as just a holiday, but I think they are wrong. We need to visit our elders and receive their blessings. These are times when we need to come together with our children."

Minister Memişoğlu, who also drew attention to the frequent sacrificial animal slaughtering accidents during the holiday, warned, "The sacrifice should be slaughtered by competent people so that the victim does not suffer and is at peace, and also so that people do not injure themselves. Therefore, care must be taken to have competent people perform the sacrifice."

Referring to the increased traffic density during the holiday, Memişoğlu said, "Those who will celebrate the holiday, those who will go on holiday, please obey the traffic rules on the roads. Do not rush, get to where they are going on time. There is no point in rushing, if they leave a little earlier, they will still arrive on time."

Minister Memişoğlu underlined that health services will continue uninterrupted during Eid al-Adha and continued as follows:

"We have 1554 hospitals in the health system. They work 24 hours a day. Our emergency services are on alert in this regard. Our 112 teams are the same. Health services are provided 24 hours a day in every regard. We, the health workers, are on duty 365 days a year, every hour, every minute. I congratulate all my friends on duty. I express my gratitude and appreciation to all my friends and colleagues who provide health services, do this job with devotion, love people, strive to be useful to them and provide a remedy for their problems."

Emphasizing that Türkiye is in a good position in health services and will reach an even better point, Memişoğlu made the following assessments:

"I would like to say this to the society in particular: We must ensure that the society also remains healthy. We aim for the society to care about its body and health and prioritize protecting it. We have recently changed our policy on this issue. In the past, we expected the society to come to us. Now, in terms of basic and preventive health, we have to go to the society and explain it. If the society is overweight, addicted or does not move enough, rather than the society coming to learn, we need to go to the society and explain it and create awareness on this issue. Recently, we have been prioritizing preventive health, which we call 'preventive health', because we are the Ministry of Health, and our priority is for the society to stay healthy. We expect the society to help us stay healthy."

Minister Memişoğlu drew attention to the continuation of Israel's brutal and destructive attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip and the deepening "humanitarian crisis" in the region due to the full embargo.

Pointing out that people in Gaza celebrated the holiday without basic food and necessities, Memişoğlu said:

"We can live comfortably, happily and peacefully here, but unfortunately many people, babies and children there need a glass of water. The people in Gaza need the humanity of humanity. We, as humanity, are not going through a good test in this regard. We should not lose our humanity, and Eids are times when we are reminded of this humanity. Hopefully, they will have Eids one day too."

Minister Memişoğlu, who also touched upon the holidays of his childhood, said, "My mother is a primary school teacher and my father is a mechanical engineer. Both are civil servants. We would go to our village on holidays. We would go to my mother's village and then to my father's village in Rize and visit the cemeteries. They would make handmade baklava, very nice. They are still made now but not as much. We are a large family, my mother has 9 siblings and my father has 5 siblings. So we would spend the holiday with our nieces, nephews, cousins, all together, with large crowds."

Stating that they cannot gather together as crowded as before during the holidays, Memişoğlu said, "My mother and father are alive, we go and kiss their hands, but in the old holidays, large families would come together. We would have a fun holiday together. We are trying to do it now, but the cities have changed."

Emphasizing that he loves spending time with his children, Memişoğlu continued as follows:

"I have 3 children. Young people think differently. I am not longing for the old holidays, I said that just so you know. Every time has its own good times. We cannot say that all holidays are good, the old ones were better, the current ones are worse. We should not say, 'It was like this in our time, why are they doing this?' I think young people are more sensitive than us on these issues. I see that they celebrate holidays as beautifully and well as our old holidays. Of course, since times are different, the methods of celebration may also differ. The important thing is that the holiday feeling in our hearts does not change. This does not change in young people. That is why I spend time with my children, usually my family."

Minister Memişoğlu wished everyone to spend the holiday with their loved ones in health and happiness.