Public Health and Primary Health Care Services Provided in the Province Following the Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Aim: This study aimed to describe the public health andprimary health care services delivered in KahramanmaraşProvince from the first day of the earthquakes throughthe end of the first month following the disaster.Material and Method: A descriptive study wasconducted covering February 6–March 6, 2023. Dailysyndromic surveillance was performed for respiratorytract infections, acute gastrointestinal infections,exanthematous diseases, jaundice, and scabies.Immunization activities were monitored through routinerecords of vaccines administered, including hepatitis B,BCG, DTP-IPV-Hib, pneumococcal conjugate, MMR, oralpolio, tetanus–diphtheria, hepatitis A, varicella, andrabies vaccines. Water quality was assessed at districtlevel and classified as compliant or non-compliant. Datawere analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: Health services were established in 46 tentand container settlements, with 16 operating on a24-hour basis. During the study period, 5,445 childfollow-ups, 1,774 antenatal visits, and 979 postnatalvisits were recorded. Tetanus-diphtheria, DTP-IPV-Hib,and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines were the mostfrequently administered vaccines. A total of 283,210individuals were reached through 774 rural field visits.Among 1,646 water samples collected from 11 districts,92% met safety standards, while microbiological noncompliancewas detected in 104 samples.Conclusions: Despite major post-disaster challenges,essential public health and primary care services weremaintained during the first month. Primary health caredelivery, surveillance, immunization, and psychosocialsupport were key components of the response,highlighting the importance of organized public healthsystems in strengthening disaster resilience.
Institution: Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University
Language: English
Subfield: Emergency Medical Services
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7203569672