Türkiye eyes healthy aging, prevention in health care policy: Minister

Ahmet Hakan - ISTANBUL

Türkiye is shifting the focus of its health care system from treating illness to preventing it, with Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu saying the country’s new priority is to help people remain healthy and age with a higher quality of life.

“We want a system that reminds citizens about their health before they become ill, teaches healthy living and increases demand for it,” Memişoğlu said in an interview with the daily Hürriyet, describing the approach as a more proactive and preventive health care model.

A central part of the strategy is the expanded role of family physicians. Under recent regulatory changes, every citizen has a designated family doctor, while physicians can receive additional incentives when patients under their care require fewer hospital visits or medications and report higher satisfaction.

Family doctors are also taking a greater role in monitoring hypertension, diabetes and heart disease, as well as screening children for autism and conducting cancer checks. Memişoğlu said 35 million people had undergone chronic disease screening, while 36,000 people had received early cancer diagnoses over the past 18 months. Of those, 658 were identified as being at high risk and referred to hospitals for follow-up and treatment.

The ministry is promoting healthier lifestyles through its Healthy Life Centers, which provide free services to everyone. There are 536 such centers across Türkiye, including 24 in Istanbul, with 16 more planned for the city. The centers offer services from dietitians, psychologists and physiotherapists to child development specialists and cancer screening, including free mammography.

The ministry is also running campaigns aimed at encouraging healthier lifestyles and tackling obesity. It recently introduced a “movement age” assessment for citizens, offering free physical fitness screenings across the country to evaluate how old the body performs in terms of strength, balance and functional capacity.

Memişoğlu said Türkiye had already achieved major advances in access to health care and treatment capacity, noting that the system now serves at least 3 million people a day. He also said Türkiye was sharing its health care model with countries including Egypt, Georgia, Pakistan, Syria, Kazakhstan, Iraq and Somalia, as well as countries in the Balkans.

Healthy aging is another key objective. Memişoğlu noted that average life expectancy had risen from 70 years in 2000 to 78, but said the focus should also be on extending the period people live without illness. According to Turkish Statistical Institute data cited by the minister, healthy life expectancy stands at 58 years. He also highlighted progress in infant mortality, which fell from 31.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2002 to 7.8.