An online meeting on "Studies for Disabled and Elderly Individuals in Disaster and Emergency Situations" was held at the General Directorate of Disability and Elderly Services.

The online meeting held in the General Directorate of Disability and Elderly Services on "Studies for Disabled and Elderly Individuals in Disaster and Emergency Situations", General Manager of Disability and Elderly Services  Dr. Orhan KOÇ, Head of Department Hulusi Hediye YILDIRIM, EYHGM managers and staff, General Directorate of Family and Community Services, General Directorate of Social Benefits, General Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety, Izmir Provincial Directorate of Our Ministry, AFAD center and Eskisehir Branch , Turkish Japanese Foundation and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), academicians from Anadolu and Haliç University, NGO representatives working in the field of disability and disaster and their families with disabled individuals attended.

General Manager Dr. Orhan KOÇ, who spoke at the meeting, stated that the issue of disasters is on the agenda due to the Izmir earthquake, but that studies on disabled people should be kept on the agenda continuously in disasters and emergencies and that preventive measures are of great importance in this area.

He said that Disasters and Emergencies are important not only for individuals with disabilities and disadvantaged fragile groups, but also for all citizens, that protective and preventive measures and the devastating and lethal impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes can be reduced, that Turkey is an example and help to many countries in emergency disasters, and that there is a lot of work to be done in preventive and preventive measures according to the loss of ability of people with disabilities.

He also said that this meeting was organized to evaluate the work done in the field and to identify and complete the deficiencies, and proposed that The World Disaster Risk Reduction Day of October 13th could be considered as awareness and exercise day in this area.

At the meeting, academicians explained the results of their research on the needs of people with disabilities in disasters and emergencies and explained their academic studies and implementation projects.

Ministry representatives described the studies, legal regulations and especially the interventions made in the Izmir earthquake on October 30, 2020.

NGOs working in the field of disability and disasters, disabled individuals and their families do not have sufficient knowledge about disaster preparedness, information and exercises should be carried out on this issue, medical devices, medicines and other auxiliary devices and tools that are undeletable after disasters of disabled people who live with medical devices should be provided again as soon as possible, the difficulties of evacuating disabled individuals at the time of the earthquake and sign language interpreter in the response teams working in the post-disaster area they reported that there should be specialists who vary according to the disability group of people with disabilities, such as special education teachers.