Supported by the Ministry of Health and civil society organizations, TİKA has so far helped organize hundreds of aid projects abroad, including everything from general health screenings to complicated operations and even the building of hospitals and training of local medical staff in the countries visited.
TİKA President Musa Kulaklıkaya noted that despite numerous projects undertaken in foreign countries to provide medical services so far, they wanted to health services to be provided on a regular basis, not periodically. “Thousands of people throughout the world need help. We do not discriminate against people based on gender, ethnicity, religion, race, language, creed and so on. We aim to provide our services for the sake of humanity. We plan to increase our humanitarian aid with each passing day,” Kulaklıkaya said. He also noted that Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan and Uganda are among the countries in which they plan to provide regular medical services, adding that every nongovernmental organization that has accepted to provide medical services systematically will be assigned to one African country.
Last year TİKA undertook 658 projects. Its vision is to be a reputable leader in its field and to remain at the top of the list of cooperation and development agencies abiding by world standards by revising its targets according to changing world conditions. Turkish doctors who went to various countries in August 2009 as part of TİKA have completed some 40,000 health screenings and 4,000 operations thus far.
“Previously, when Africa or African countries were mentioned, poverty, drought and infectious diseases came to the minds of people around the world. However, Africa will no longer be a continent remembered by people like this. Our doctors are working to help African countries provide good living standards to their people. They have been helping people in need and will continue to do so,” Kulaklıkaya said.
