Turkish Health Minister highlights mutual cooperation in health sector

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca made statements to the press following the opening of the Turkish States Health Ministers Meeting and the Türkiye-Uzbekistan 2nd Health Business Forum held in Uzbekistan.

Koca stated that there was intense participation in the forum that started in Samarkand today and said, "A forum was organized where mutual cooperation was carried out in terms of health tourism, production in the medical device field, including drugs, as well as information systems."

Koca mentioned that nearly a thousand participants attended the forum and stated that discussions will continue to maintain cooperation in the future.

Highlighting the importance of health tourism, Koca said, "Türkiye has started to become a hub in recent times in health tourism. We are moving towards being the third country in the world where health tourism is concentrated. We are aware that there is intense interest. We want to ensure that Türkiye takes a more prominent share in health tourism by further distinguishing the 'Health Türkiye' brand every day. We have also promoted this."

With the 'Health Türkiye' brand, Koca explained, "We are talking about a system where both the public, universities, and the private sector are involved, and they are all on the portal, where transportation is easy. The upcoming period will be a time when we will intensify these promotions, especially in the countries we target."

Regarding the activities of the National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE), Koca mentioned, "We have the UMKE structure. We have taken a step to extend and establish UMKE to Turkish states. We will conduct the first training related to this in our facilities in Urla, Türkiye."

Koca also mentioned that Health Business Forums will be held in other countries as well, and a forum is planned in London in September. "We will promote the 'Health Türkiye' brand more intensively in the targeted countries and introduce Türkiye's health system, including patient care, information, medical supplies, and drug-based services," he said.

Koca also touched on education-related activities between Uzbekistan and Türkiye in the health field. He stated, "We contribute to the education of nurses and students under the Health Sciences University. We are also contributing to the education of students in Türkiye, including specialization training. We have a close collaboration with Türkiye, including receiving training. Our Minister also mentioned that they have examined health systems around the world but found Türkiye's patient-centered health system to be similar to their own and important. They expressed that they would like to take Türkiye's health system as an example, including information technology. We also said that we are open to all kinds of cooperation. We will do what is required on our side."