Ministry of Health (Turkey) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ministry of Health

Sağlık Bakanlığı
Agency overview
Formed	1920; 105 years ago (1920)
Jurisdiction	Government of Turkey
Headquarters	Ankara, Turkey
Employees	1.142.469
Minister responsible	Kemal Memişoğlu, Minister of Health

The Ministry of Health (Turkish: Sağlık Bakanlığı) is a very important part of the Government of Turkey. Its main job is to create and carry out plans for health across the country. This includes making sure people get good healthcare and protecting everyone's health.

The Ministry also works on making sure everyone feels included in society. They help families, protect children and young people, and care for people who need extra support or have disabilities. The main office of the Ministry is in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey.

The person in charge of the Ministry of Health is called the Minister of Health. This minister is chosen by the President of Turkey. The current minister is Fahrettin Koca, who has been serving since July 10, 2018.

History of Healthcare in Turkey

Early Years: 1920–1946

Healthcare has always been important in Turkey, even long ago during the Ottoman Empire. After the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was formed, the Ministry of Health officially started on May 3, 1920. At first, the main goal was to help people recover from the war and create new health laws.

After Turkey became a Republic, Dr. Refik Saydam was the Minister of Health for many years until 1937. He helped shape how healthcare services were provided. In 1923, there were 86 hospitals in the country with about 6,437 patient beds.

During this time, important laws were passed, like the Law on Practice of Medicine and Medical Sciences (1928) and the Law on Public Hygiene (1930). Some of these laws are still used today!

The health plans back then focused on four main ideas:

• Planning and managing healthcare from a central government office.
• Organizing ways to prevent diseases across the country.
• Encouraging more people to become doctors and health workers.
• Starting programs to fight common diseases like malaria.

The goal was to have a government doctor in every district. They opened health offices in many towns, especially in busy areas. Doctors who focused on preventing diseases were paid more and were not allowed to have private practices.

National Health Plans: 1946–1960

In 1946, Turkey created its first written health plan, called the "First 10-Year National Health Plan." Dr. Behçet Uz, who was the Minister of Health, announced this plan. Even though it didn't become a law right away, it greatly influenced how healthcare was set up in Turkey.

This plan aimed to bring hospitals under central control. It also wanted to expand healthcare to rural areas by building small health centers. Each center was designed to have two doctors, a health officer, a midwife, and a visiting nurse. The number of these health centers grew a lot, from 8 in 1945 to 283 in 1960.

In 1952, a special section for Maternal and Child Health was created within the Ministry. A center for this was opened in Ankara in 1953, with help from UNICEF and the World Health Organization. During this period, there was a focus on increasing the population because many children and people were getting sick. So, Turkey built more health centers and maternity facilities.

In 1954, another important plan, the "National Health Program," was announced. This program helped divide the country into different health regions to better organize services. To have more health workers, Ege University started its medical faculty in 1955. The number of doctors, nurses, and midwives more than doubled in just 10 years!

These plans also aimed to offer health insurance to citizens for a fee. They wanted to help people who couldn't afford healthcare by using a special budget. They also worked on controlling the production of medicines and vaccines. For example, a laboratory was set up in 1947 to produce vaccines.

Health Policies: 1960–2002

In 1963, a new idea called "socialization in health" began. This meant making healthcare available to everyone across the country. Health posts, health centers, and hospitals were opened everywhere to provide complete and continuous care.

In the 1990s, there were efforts to reform the healthcare system. One big idea was to create a "General Health Insurance" system by combining all existing social security programs. They also wanted to introduce "family doctors" for basic care and give hospitals more freedom to manage themselves. The goal was for the Ministry of Health to focus more on planning and preventing diseases.

During this time, a "green card" system was introduced for poor citizens who didn't have social security. This allowed people with low incomes to get some health coverage, though it was limited. Many ideas for health reform were discussed, but not all of them were put into action.

Health Transformation Program: 2003–2013

In 2003, the Government of Turkey started a big project called the Health Transformation Program (HTP). The World Bank helped Turkey with this program. The main goals of the HTP were:

• To change how the Ministry of Health was organized.
• To make sure all citizens had access to universal health care.
• To bring all health facilities under one system.
• To give hospitals more control over their own money and management.
• To introduce family medicine across the country.
• To focus especially on the health of mothers and children.
• To expand services that prevent diseases.
• To encourage private companies to invest in healthcare.
• To use digital transformation to improve health services.

This program helped a lot. People complained less about long waiting times at hospitals. It became easier for patients to get care without worrying about paying bills, because the main focus was on providing social insurance and universal healthcare.

By 2011, about 75.9% of the population was happy with health services, which was a big jump from 39.5% in 2003. Also, the number of health workers grew by 36% in the same period, from 295,000 to 460,000.

How the Ministry of Health is Organized

The Ministry of Health has many different departments that work together. Here are some of them:

Ministers of Health

The first Minister of Health in Turkey was Dr. Adnan Adıvar. The current minister is Dr. Fahrettin Koca, who has been serving since July 10, 2018.

See Also

• National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE)
• Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board (Turkey)
• Air pollution in Turkey