Transformation of Turkish health system since the year 2003

Health is the most important and indispensable resource of human life. Health is not only achieved through medical treatment methods and individual efforts; public services and policies and socioeconomic factors are also determinants of health. States and policymakers formulate health policies with an understanding that can be characterized as social medicine by evaluating the social phenomena of health. The process of determining health policies is shaped by the participation of national and international actors due to the democratic governance approach, public expectations seen in the last century, and the search for resources for financing health. Until the 1980s, health services in Turkey were provided as curative, education, and research services. Migration due to wars and socioeconomic conditions caused epidemics worldwide, so preventive health policies were developed to protect public health. International organizations such as the World Health Organization and the World Bank, which have started to play an active role in the health policies of countries with the loans they provide, have provided support through health transformation projects and have therefore created a financial factor in determining health policy by setting their own rules. These organizations have supported many projects to implement their reform formulations in Turkey and have persuaded public opinion through the congresses they have organized to bring the policies to the agenda. In this respect, international actors outside the state have become the determining elements of the Turkish health system and health policies. As a result, there was a need for reform in the health system in Turkey, and a comprehensive transformation program was prepared and put into practice in 2003 and afterward, which can be described as the last period. In this study, to determine the effects of the Health Transformation Program on the health system and society, the development of the health system in Turkey during this process is examined, and its structural and economic effects are evaluated.