Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board

The Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board (Turkish: Koronavirüs Bilim Kurulu) is a group of medical scientists set up by the Ministry of Health to develop measures in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey that are imposed by the government.[1][2]

The Scientific Advisory Board was set up on 10 January 2020 following the emergence of the coronavirus outbreak, before the World Health Organization confirmed it mid March as pandemic.[2][3][4][5] The board initially consisted of 26 members, including 21 university professors and 4 medical experts specialized in Pulmonology, Infectious Diseases, Clinical Microbiology and a legal adviser.[2][6] The number of board members later increased to 31 with the joining of expert academics in virology, internal medicine, intensive care medicine.[5][7] The Minister of Heath Fahrettin Koca mentioned in a press conference on 7 April that the advisory board has 35 members.[8] This number later increased to 38.[9]

The board members do their own work in the morning and meet every day in the afternoon at the Ministry of Health.[3] The board works out guidelines for the treatment by medicals and measures to be followed by the public, and updates them in context of the disease's course in the country. The board reports to the Health Minister. The implementation of the measures is carried out by the government.[1][2] Almost every board member is invited by television, radio and newspapers to inform and warn the public about the coronavirus and personal protection as well as to prevent information pollution in the social media.[3]

  1. ^ a b "Turkey remains firm, calm as first coronavirus case confirmed". Daily Sabah. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Koranavirüs Bilim Kurulu ne zaman kuruldu, üyeleri kimlerdir? İşte Bilim Kurulu ile ilgili merak edilenler..." Akşam (in Turkish). 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "İşte koronavirüse karşı gece gündüz demeden çalışan 26 Bilim Kurulu üyesi". CNN Türk (in Turkish). 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Coronavirus confirmed as pandemic by World Health Organization". BBC. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Bilim Kurulu nedir? Sağlık Bakanlığı Bilim Kurulu üyeleri kimlerdir?". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 26 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  6. ^ Özgenç, Meltem (27 March 2020). "Koronaya karşı 26 dev savaşçı". Hürriyet. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  7. ^ Yener, Duygu (24 March 2020). "Türkiye'nin koronavirüsle mücadele politikasına 'Bilim Kurulu' yön veriyor" (in Turkish). Ankara: Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Koca Türkiye'deki yeni vaka sayısını açıkladı! Can kaybı 725'e yükseldi". Milliyet (in Turkish). 8 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Koronavirüs Bilim Kurulu'na 7 yeni üye eklendi" (in Turkish). Evrensel. 6 April 2020. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.