Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu met with health reporters at the Istanbul branch of International Health Services Inc. Memişoğlu said Türkiye’s healthcare system had made significant progress, particularly over the past 25 years, and that healthcare services had become one of the country’s sources of pride.
Memişoğlu said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had supported the provision of people-centered healthcare, adding that healthcare workers played an important role in the quality of services. He said Türkiye had advanced in access to healthcare, social support and the use of technology, adding that more than 3 million people came to Türkiye each year to receive healthcare services.
Coordination center for palliative care
Memişoğlu announced that the definition of “critical palliative care services” had been added to legislation under the Regulation on the Provision and Coordination of Home Healthcare and Palliative Care Services. He said home healthcare, telehealth and palliative care services had been integrated and that a Home Healthcare Services Coordination Center had been established.
Memişoğlu said the new system would facilitate the remote monitoring of patients who remained in hospital for extended periods or who could receive care at home, adding that family physicians would also be included in the coordination process. He explained that a family physician would notify the center about patients requiring palliative care and that patients discharged from hospital and sent home would automatically be referred to their family physician.
Memişoğlu said there were 271,000 beds across Türkiye, 7,822 of which were allocated to palliative care, while Istanbul had 910 palliative care beds. He said the primary priority in Istanbul was not the number of beds but the effective operation of the organization.
Family medicine and preventive healthcare
Memişoğlu said 160 legislative regulations had been introduced over the past two years and that the Family Medicine Regulation had been amended in November 2024. He said the number of family medicine physicians in Türkiye had risen from around 25,000 to 31,000, adding that Istanbul had 1,121 family medicine physicians, 81 new units had been opened and another 130 units would be opened.
Memişoğlu said regulations had been introduced to enable family physicians to prescribe approximately 1,850 medicines, issue health reports, provide traditional and complementary medicine practices and make hospital appointments for their patients when they deemed it necessary. He added that Istanbul had 34 Healthy Life Centers.
Memişoğlu said these centers provided free services including antenatal classes, child development support, psychologists, dietitians and physiotherapists. He added that the centers also offered Pilates and exercise programs, as well as vaccination and cancer screenings. He said family counselors from the Ministry of Family and Social Services had also been included in the system.
Circulatory diseases lead causes of death
Memişoğlu said average life expectancy in Türkiye had risen to 78.5 years and that the infant mortality rate had fallen from 31.5 per 1,000 live births in 2002 to 7.8 per 1,000 in 2025. He said the decline from 9 per 1,000 in 2024 to the 2025 level meant that approximately 3,000 more babies had survived.
Memişoğlu said 34.7% of deaths were caused by diseases of the circulatory system, while 16% resulted from benign and malignant tumors. He said ischemic heart disease accounted for 42% of circulatory system diseases, adding that respiratory diseases, lung cancer and laryngeal cancer accounted for significant shares of tumor-related deaths.
Memişoğlu said smoking, physical inactivity and excess weight were among the leading causes of health problems, adding that 46% of men in Türkiye smoked. He said the sale of 8 billion cigarette packs last year posed a health problem and that society’s demand for health should be increased before its demand for treatment.
Memişoğlu said approximately 30% of the population in Türkiye faced a risk of morbid obesity, adding that lifestyle, stress, eating habits and limited mobility in cities were worsening weight-related problems. He said media professionals could play an effective role in strengthening awareness of healthy living.
Organ donations reach 250,000
Memişoğlu said it was difficult to find cadaveric organ donations for transplantation and that, under a legal amendment, people could donate organs through e-Government and e-Nabız. He said the number of donations had reached 250,000, adding that more than 30,000 people in Türkiye were waiting for an organ transplant.
Memişoğlu announced that 79 major hospitals had been built in Istanbul over the past 24 years, that 28 hospitals had opened during the COVID-19 pandemic and that Türkiye had 27 city hospitals nationwide. He said construction was continuing on Istanbul’s 1,453-bed Fatih Sultan Mehmet Hospital and that the 4,000-bed city hospital in Sancaktepe was planned to open in the second half of 2027.
“Wellness institution” model
Memişoğlu said the “Wellness Legislation” had paved the way for private-sector provision of healthcare services that were not intended for treatment or for the six-month recovery period following treatment. He said an independent “Wellness Institution” could be established in designated sections of hotels and facilities.
Memişoğlu said these institutions could employ dietitians, physiotherapists, child development specialists and manual therapy specialists alongside a supervising physician. He added that the institutions would require a license from the Ministry and would be required to sign a protocol with a hospital or medical center.
Domestic vaccine and medical device production
Memişoğlu announced that plans had been made to produce eight domestic vaccines and that contracts for at least six of them were targeted to be signed within a few weeks. He said production would not be limited to the filling stage and that the basic cell for the vaccine was also planned to be produced in Türkiye. Memişoğlu added that Türkiye was working on 13 domestic vaccines.
Memişoğlu said Türkiye aimed to produce more than 70% of ultrasound devices domestically within two years. He announced that a heart-lung machine had been developed together with ASELSAN and had begun to be used on patients. He said serial production of the device was planned to begin by the end of the year and added that work was also underway on mobile X-ray and respiratory devices.
Memişoğlu said a capsule endoscopy device had been developed in Türkiye and that human trials would begin shortly. He explained that the tablet-shaped device would enable the stomach and intestines to be imaged. He said only a limited number of countries had developed this technology.
Memişoğlu said work was underway on immunological, cancer and SMA medicines and that clinical studies would be launched to produce these medicines in Türkiye. He said the medicines and strategic medical devices needed by Türkiye had been identified, adding that production of 45 strategic devices had been incentivized in the first phase.
Memişoğlu said a digital application system had been established to turn ideas in healthcare into products, adding that people working in the healthcare field could submit their projects through the system. He also said regulations had made it mandatory to keep external defibrillators in crowded places such as shopping malls, gyms and artificial-turf football fields, adding that inspections had adopted a risk-based approach rather than one based on complaints.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, Istanbul Provincial Health Director Abdullah Emre Güner, USHAŞ General Manager Serdar Şenol and health reporters working in Istanbul attended the meeting.
