Back to all available

Public Health and Primary Healthcare Services Provided in the Province During the Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes

epidemiology
public-health
environmental-health

Abstract

Background: This study aims to describe the targeted, planned, and delivered public health and primary care services in the Kahramanmaraş region from the first day of the earthquakes through the end of the first month.

Methods: The study period covered February 6 to March 7, 2023. Daily syndromic surveillance was conducted for respiratory tract infections, acute gastrointestinal infections, exanthematous diseases, jaundice, and scabies. Immunization activities were monitored by recording daily administration of routine childhood vaccines and the rabies vaccine. Water quality monitoring data were evaluated at the district level. All data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; categorical variables were presented as frequencies and percentages, and continuous variables as aggregated totals.

Results: By the end of the first month, health services were delivered in 46 tent and container settlements, including 16 operating full-time. A total of 5,654 infant and child follow-ups, 1,855 antenatal visits, 985 postpartum follow-ups, and 278 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) screenings were performed. The highest vaccine doses administered were tetanus-diphtheria (1,088 doses), pentavalent vaccine (908 doses), and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (719 doses), with 22 doses of rabies vaccine administered outside routine immunization. Outreach teams conducted 774 field visits to rural areas, providing services to 283,210 individuals. Psychologists carried out 1,628 household visits and delivered 6,147 psychosocial support sessions. Water quality analysis included 1,646 samples from 11 districts, of which 92% met safety standards. Microbiological testing identified contamination in 104 samples (79 coliform-positive, 34 Escherichia coli, and 43 enterococci). The findings demonstrate that primary care and public health interventions were delivered comprehensively despite the challenges imposed by disaster conditions. Primary healthcare services, epidemiological surveillance, immunization activities, and psychosocial support emerged as critical components of effective disaster response and management.

Ask to review this manuscript

Notes for potential reviewers

  • Volunteering is not a guarantee that you will be asked to review. There are many reasons: reviewers must be qualified, there should be no conflicts of interest, a minimum of two reviewers have already accepted an invitation, etc.
  • This is NOT OPEN peer review. The review is single-blind, and all recommendations are sent privately to the Academic Editor handling the manuscript. All reviews are published and reviewers can choose to sign their reviews.
  • What happens after volunteering? It may be a few days before you receive an invitation to review with further instructions. You will need to accept the invitation to then become an official referee for the manuscript. If you do not receive an invitation it is for one of many possible reasons as noted above.
  • PeerJ does not judge submissions based on subjective measures such as novelty, impact or degree of advance. Effectively, reviewers are asked to comment on whether or not the submission is scientifically and technically sound and therefore deserves to join the scientific literature. Our Peer Review criteria can be found on the "Editorial Criteria" page - reviewers are specifically asked to comment on 3 broad areas: "Basic Reporting", "Experimental Design" and "Validity of the Findings".
  • Reviewers are expected to comment in a timely, professional, and constructive manner.
  • Until the article is published, reviewers must regard all information relating to the submission as strictly confidential.
  • When submitting a review, reviewers are given the option to "sign" their review (i.e. to associate their name with their comments). Otherwise, all review comments remain anonymous.
  • All reviews of published articles are published. This includes manuscript files, peer review comments, author rebuttals and revised materials.
  • Each time a decision is made by the Academic Editor, each reviewer will receive a copy of the Decision Letter (which will include the comments of all reviewers).

If you have any questions about submitting your review, please email us at [email protected].