Historical look at Istanbul healthcare
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Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 20, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Though the quality of health care in Istanbul, and in Turkey as a whole, is often criticized, a look back at Ottoman history is a potent reminder just how far medical practices have advanced.
A recent report by historian Nuran Yıldırım, a member of Istanbul University’s faculty of medicine, has examined a deadly series of epidemics during the Ottoman period and the lack of health services that increased their fatal toll. The greatest of these threats to public health was the cholera epidemic that swept through the city in three waves in the mid-1800s.
According to Yıldırım’s research, the Ottoman Empire first encountered cholera in 1831. The epidemic began in Istanbul, where 12 people were contracting the disease each day. Within a month, the rate of new infections had increased to 200 people per day. A second wave of infections hit in 1849 and by the end of the third and most deadly wave in 1865, thousands had succumbed. The poor quality of health services was not the only culprit in the cholera epidemic; the Ottoman lifestyle, culture and religion also played a part. A physician of the period, Dr. Louis, wrote that wealthy Muslims tended to live in large, spacious houses, making it difficult to maintain high hygiene standards throughout their residences. The city’s open drainage systems also posed serious threats to public health and aided the spread of cholera, as did the appalling sanitary conditions in graveyards, slaughterhouses, tankards and dye houses.
After an official meeting of doctors and specialists, an ad hoc commission on public health (Hifzissihha Meclis-i Muvakkati) was set up to determine which doctors would help the Minister of Military Health Affairs fight the epidemic. But although ambulatory hospitals and first-aid units were set up in several districts, they were unable to meet the needs of patients with the disease. From these bleak beginnings, Turkish health care has gradually improved to a point where it is in keeping with worldwide standards.
According to Yıldırım’s research, the Ottoman Empire first encountered cholera in 1831. The epidemic began in Istanbul, where 12 people were contracting the disease each day. Within a month, the rate of new infections had increased to 200 people per day. A second wave of infections hit in 1849 and by the end of the third and most deadly wave in 1865, thousands had succumbed. The poor quality of health services was not the only culprit in the cholera epidemic; the Ottoman lifestyle, culture and religion also played a part. A physician of the period, Dr. Louis, wrote that wealthy Muslims tended to live in large, spacious houses, making it difficult to maintain high hygiene standards throughout their residences. The city’s open drainage systems also posed serious threats to public health and aided the spread of cholera, as did the appalling sanitary conditions in graveyards, slaughterhouses, tankards and dye houses.
After an official meeting of doctors and specialists, an ad hoc commission on public health (Hifzissihha Meclis-i Muvakkati) was set up to determine which doctors would help the Minister of Military Health Affairs fight the epidemic. But although ambulatory hospitals and first-aid units were set up in several districts, they were unable to meet the needs of patients with the disease. From these bleak beginnings, Turkish health care has gradually improved to a point where it is in keeping with worldwide standards.