The Ministry of Health Dr. Fahrettin Koca presented the 2022 budget of the Ministry of Health at the Parliament's Planning and Budget Commission and received questions from the members of the parliament. Deputy health ministers and senior officials of the Ministry also attended the meeting.
“We are striving to provide fast and high-quality health care to 84 million people”
Minister of Health Koca emphasized that they will continue to follow a human-centered health policy as before, and noted that they provide services with a total of more than 14 thousand medical facilities, 944 of which are hospitals, 8 thousand are family health centers.
Noting that they are present in all four corners of the country with a capacity of 160 thousand beds under the coordination of the Ministry together with stakeholders, Koca said that they were striving to provide fast and high-quality health care to 84 million people with more than 1 million 240 thousand health professionals.
“We are the most comprehensive health care provider in the world”
Minister Koca said that more and more resources are allocated to health every day in parallel with Turkey's economic development, adding: “We are the country that provides the most comprehensive health care, although our resources are limited. During the pandemic, this issue was seen by everyone. Our goal is to make a sustainable health system permanent,."
"Maternal mortality rate decreased from 64 per hundred thousand to 13.1 per hundred thousand”
Informing about the important progress made in basic health indicators since 2002, Minister Koca said, “The number of infant and child deaths under the age of 5 has decreased significantly, we also continue to reduce the infant mortality rate. As is known, one of the most basic indicators indicating the development of a health system is the maternal mortality rate. We have reduced the mortality rate of mothers from 64 per hundred thousand to 13.1 per hundred thousand.”
“We maintain our leadership in the world in vaccination”
Minister Koca reported that they updated the scheme of school vaccinations in accordance with the recommendations of the Immunization Scientific Board, switched to vaccination through family physicians instead of mass vaccinations at schools.
Expressing that they managed to maintain immunization rates at the level envied by the world even during the pandemic, Minister Koca stated that they regularly vaccinate children under the age of 5 under temporary protection and immigrants in Turkey in accordance with the childhood vaccination scheme.
“We achieved over 99 percent contact-tracing success”
Noting that they managed the pandemic via the Scientific Committee while examining the effects of the pandemic in the field of social sciences such as sociological, psychological, communication in the light of scientific data, Koca said, “We achieved contact-tracing of over 99 percent success by going from village to village, neighborhood to neighborhood, house to house. We have delivered vaccines to the most remote corners of the country with thanks to our teams on the field."
Drawing attention to the importance of Life Fits Home and HES applications, Koca said, “We did not allow the system to get disadvantaged even during the busiest time. Since March 2020, we have added a total of 13,271 beds to Public Hospitals with new buildings and capacity increase."
Health tourism
Emphasizing that Turkey maintains its claim in health tourism, Koca said, “1346 health facilities and 246 intermediary institutions have been granted International Health Tourism Authorization Certificate. The International Patient Support Unit Translation and Call Center provides services in 6 languages with 38 interpreters. We continued our health diplomacy activities decisively within the framework of our entrepreneurial and humanitarian foreign policy. In this context, we have 242 agreements with 90 countries and international organizations."
Digital applications in healthcare
Koca noted that Turkey experienced the advantage of the digital health infrastructure during the pandemic and said, “The applications such as HSYS, HES, FİTAS, AŞILA were made available for health professionals and the public very rapidly. Apart from the regular examinations, we also managed vaccination appointments through the MHRS. In the first 10 months of this year, more than 290 million appointments have been made. Currently, 55 million of our citizens are e-Pulse users with a personal health record and can access their own health records."
“We are the country with the most digital hospitals in the world after the United States”
Noting that all reports issued by healthcare facilities can be accessed via e-State, Koca added, "Digitalization is our best tool against secure data flow and patient safety. For this purpose, we have worked hard to increase the level of digitalization in our hospitals. According to the HIMSS criteria for digitalization, our number of level 6 hospitals has reached 66, and our number of level 7 hospitals, which is the highest level, has reached 5. We are the country with the most digital hospitals in the world after the United States.”
“We aim to complete 206 health facilities, 55 of which are hospitals, in the coming year”
”We completed 3,823 health facilities in the last 19 years,“ Koca said and added, "Of these, 2,609 are health facilities such as family health centers, community health centers, and 1,214 are health facilities offering secondary and tertiary care. Of these facilities, 715 are hospitals, 393 are axillary buildings, and 106 are oral and dental health centers. We aim to add 14,938 more qualified bed capacity to Turkey by completing 206 health facilities, 55 of which are hospitals, next year."
“The daily consumption of antibiotics per thousand people fell from 42 units to 24 units”
Koca pointed out the fact that daily consumption of antibiotics per thousand people fell from 42 units to 24 units thanks to effective field work in the field of rational drug use, and continued, "Out of every 100 boxes of drugs consumed in 2019, 88 was produced in Turkey. We have to reach higher figures on a value basis by producing higher value-added products locally."
“For the first time all the processes of a vaccine have been completed”
Stating that TUSEB had also taken on important tasks in pandemic management, Koca said, “TUSEB has established COVID-19 diagnostic laboratories throughout Turkey and has significantly increased our testing capacity. It supported vaccine development projects with an open call. Among them is TURKOVAC, the first domestically produced Covid-19 vaccine. Thus, all the processes of a vaccine have been completed from R&D to production in Turkey. Currently, a total of 110 R&D projects are supported in various fields, including vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, medical devices, biomaterials, clinical trials, and SMA."
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