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 make sure people in Turkey are healthy. It plans and provides healthcare services for everyone. It also helps protect families, children, young people, and those who need special care. The Ministry's main office is in Ankara, Turkey.

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

History of Healthcare in Turkey

Early Years of the Ministry (1920–1946)

Healthcare has always been important in Turkey, even in older times. The Ministry of Health was officially started on May 3, 1920. This happened after the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was formed. In the beginning, the main goal was to help people recover from the war. They also wanted to create new rules for healthcare.

After Turkey became a Republic, Dr. Refik Saydam was the Minister of Health until 1937. He helped shape how healthcare worked in Turkey. In 1923, there were 86 hospitals in the country. These hospitals had about 6,437 beds for patients.

During this time, important laws were made. These included laws about practicing medicine (1928) and public health (1930). Some of these laws are still used today.

Healthcare policies in this period focused on four main ideas:

• Planning and managing healthcare from a central place.
• Organizing ways to prevent diseases across the country.
• Making sure there were enough doctors and health workers. Doctors who finished medical school had to work where they were needed.
• Starting programs to fight common diseases like malaria and leprosy.

The goal was to have a government doctor in every district. Special offices for diagnosis and treatment were opened in many towns. Doctors who focused on preventing diseases were paid more. They were not allowed to have private practices.

National Health Plans (1946–1960)

In 1946, Turkey created its first written healthcare plan. It was called the "First 10-Year National Health Plan." Dr. Behçet Uz, who was the Minister of Health, announced this plan. Even though the plan did not become a law, it greatly influenced healthcare in Turkey.

The plan aimed to bring hospitals under central control. It also wanted to expand healthcare to rural areas. The idea was to build a small health center for every 40 villages. These centers would offer both preventive care (like vaccinations) and treatment. Each center would have doctors, nurses, and midwives. The number of health centers grew from 8 in 1945 to 283 in 1960.

In 1952, a special section for Maternal and Child Health was created. A center to help mothers and children was opened in Ankara in 1953. This was done with help from UNICEF and the World Health Organization. At this time, there were many child deaths and infections. So, Turkey focused on increasing health centers and maternity facilities. They also trained more health professionals.

In 1954, another plan called the "National Health Program" was announced. This program helped organize healthcare planning in Turkey. It divided the country into 16 health regions. To have more health workers, a new medical school opened at Ege University in 1955. The number of doctors, nurses, and midwives more than doubled in 10 years.

These plans also aimed to provide health insurance for citizens. They wanted to cover treatment costs for poor people. A "health bank" was planned to help pay for healthcare. The Ministry also focused on making its own medicines and vaccines. For example, they started making vaccines for tuberculosis and whooping cough. In 1946, the Workers' Insurance Administration was created. This led to hospitals being opened for insured workers after 1952.

During this time, new laws were also made for medical groups. These included laws for the Turkish Medical Association (1953) and for pharmacists (1953).

Healthcare Policies (1960–2002)

In 1963, a new approach called "socialization in health" began. This meant that healthcare services became more widely available to everyone. Health posts, health centers, and hospitals were opened across the country. This helped provide continuous and complete healthcare.

In 1990, the State Planning Organization and the Ministry of Health worked together. They created a "Healthcare Sector Master Planning Study." This plan started a process of health reforms. Important discussions about health reforms happened in 1992 and 1993. This led to the "green card" system. This system allowed poor citizens without social security to get some health insurance.

In 1993, the Ministry of Health developed a "National Health Policy." This policy had five main parts. These included supporting health, improving environmental health, and setting goals for a healthy Turkey.

The main ideas for health reforms in the 1990s were:

• Combining all social security groups into one "General Health Insurance."
• Starting "family practice" for basic healthcare.
• Giving hospitals more control over their own management.
• Changing the Ministry of Health to focus more on planning and preventing diseases.

Many ideas were discussed during this period. However, not many of these big changes were actually put into action.

Health Transformation Program (2003–2013)

In 2003, the Government of Turkey started the Health Transformation Program (HTP). The World Bank helped Turkey with this program. The HTP aimed to improve healthcare for everyone.

Some of the main goals of the program were:

• Changing how the Ministry of Health was organized.
• Making sure all citizens had universal health care.
• Bringing all health facilities under one system.
• Giving hospitals more freedom in how they manage their money and operations.
• Starting family medicine programs.
• Focusing especially on the health of mothers and children.
• Expanding services that prevent diseases.
• Encouraging private companies to invest in healthcare.
• Giving more power to local health offices.
• Solving the problem of not having enough health professionals in some areas.
• Starting to use digital technology in health services.

This program helped solve many problems. For example, people no longer had to wait as long to see a doctor. Patients were no longer stuck in hospitals because they couldn't pay their bills. This was because more people had social insurance and universal health care.

The government also added more goals to the HTP. These included encouraging healthy lifestyles. They also wanted different groups to work together for better health. And they aimed to provide health services to other countries, helping Turkey's international standing.

The program was very successful. In 2003, only about 39.5% of people were happy with health services. By 2011, this number had grown to 75.9%. Also, the number of health workers increased by 36% in the same period.

How the Ministry is Organized

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

Ministers of Health

Further information: List of Ministers of Health of Turkey

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

See also

• National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE)
• White Helmets (Syrian Civil War)
• Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board (Turkey)
• Air pollution in Turkey