CIU hosted Prof. Dr. İhsan Gürsel

In the event organized by Cyprus International University (CIU) Biotechnology Research Center (BRC), one of the key figures leading the vaccine studies in Turkey, İzmir Biomedicine and Genome (IBG) Center Director Prof. Dr. İhsan Gürsel made statements about "Lessons We Learned from Covid 19: Future Pandemics."

President Ersin Tatar, TRNC Speaker of the Assembly Zorlu Töre, Minister of Labor and Social Security Hasan Taçoy, members of the national assembly, CIU administrative staff and the general public showed great interest in the event held in the conference hall of CIU Cevik Uraz Center.

Speaking at the opening, President Tatar said that the country faced the Covid-19 challenge two years ago and went through very tough times, and reminded that the pandemic not only caused health problems but also led to an economic crisis.

In his speech, the Speaker of the Assembly, Töre, pointed out that such an event is extremely important and said, "I congratulate the university for organizing this highly significant conference."

Rector Nadiri, on the other hand, said they were pleased to be able to host such an event and noted that research is carried out in many different centers such as CIU Biotechnology Research Center across the campus and that the research conducted in these centers are important in terms of serving the society.

BRC Chief Advisor Prof. Dr. Camgöz stated that the whole world has been dealing with COVID-19 for 3 years and they have learned a lot in this process, said, “We have seen the benefits of using masks and maintaining distance in this period. However, we can say that vaccines have had an undeniable importance in dealing with the pandemic.”

Speaking to a large group, Prof. Dr. Gürsel said that people under the age of 20 are most likely to encounter new pandemics, and noted that they should be well prepared for a new disease outbreak.
Stating that according to the latest studies, there are findings that COVID-19 has passed from bats to raccoons and from there to humans, Gürsel shared the following information: "If we do not want to be affected by such pandemics in the future, we need to understand the ecosystem very well and protect our environment."

Gürsel reported that there are different reasons for the pandemic to be so draining, and that while the spread rate of the flu was 1.3, this rate was 2.6 with COVID-19, and the fast spread of the pandemic infected more people in a short time. Despite the fast widespread of the disease, and though only 10% of the population were infected, the health systems turned out to be ineffective. 

Gürsel reported that at this point vaccination carried a lot of significance. He noted that in the developed countries, there was a huge waste of expired vaccines while many developing countries had problems with access to vaccines.              
  
Stating that it is important for decision makers, scientists, environmentalists and NGOs to act in unison to overcome this course of action, Gürsel stated that the flow of false information on vaccines should also be prevented. Gürsel emphasized in his speech that the use of vaccines is safe, and also shared the knowledge that vaccines have no side effects. 

Prof. Dr. Gürsel met with the participants at the reception held after his presentation and continued sharing information regarding the topic of his presentation.