Change of flag at the Ministry of Health! Memişoğlu takes over from Fahrettin Koca.

According to the decision published in the Official Gazette with the signature of President Erdogan, Murat Kurum was appointed as the Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, replacing Mehmet Özhaseki, and Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu was appointed as the Minister of Health, replacing Fahrettin Koca.

The appointment decision caused a wide reaction in the public, and the handover ceremony at the Ministry of Health took place in the morning. Former Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca, who handed over the ministry seat to Memişoğlu, said the following in his press conference; "Dear minister, esteemed press members, today I will give my speech not as the Minister of Health but as Doctor Fahrettin Koca. The 2183 days of my duty, which started with an oath in the Parliament, are days dedicated to my nation. I thank our President who gave me this opportunity. I came to my duty with some principles. One of them is respect for reason and knowledge. The other is to include those who want to be part of the solution with a spirit of solidarity. I have embraced the service that will encompass all our citizens, regardless of their thoughts. I have tried to fulfill the requirements of courageous decisions. City hospitals are among them.

"WE FACED HEAVY CHALLENGES IN 3 INCIDENTS"

My term was a period of pain and traumatic incidents. We experienced the pain of the Elazığ earthquake. This was followed by the global pandemic of Covid-19. The earthquakes on February 6th were a great trauma. We faced heavy challenges in these 3 incidents. Our healthcare system successfully passed these exams. We built the city hospitals with the public budget in the last 6 years. The cost of our 18 city hospitals was 322 billion euros. We solved the problem of violence in healthcare with the results of the White Reform.

"OUR GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO PRODUCE ALL VACCINES LOCALLY BY 2028"

We made significant improvements in healthcare workers. Mr. Minister, I received a trust, which is entrusted to us by the nation. With the technology transfer we initiated, technology transfer has started in two of our facilities. Our goal is to be able to produce all vaccines locally by 2028. The revival of the cell and gene hospital in Sancaktepe is the expectation of our nation."

NEW MINISTER MEMİŞOĞLU ALSO MADE STATEMENTS

After Fahrettin Koca, the new Minister of Health, Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu, made the following statements; "First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to our President who deemed us worthy of this noble duty. Great progress and revolutionary success have been achieved in healthcare in 22 years. We will bring healthcare services to much better places. Our President has achieved this with the transformation under his leadership. I would like to express my gratitude to the personnel who work with dedication especially in service.

In addition, I want you to know that we will prioritize preventive services before getting sick. People from all over the world come here to find their health with the developments in this health crisis. Turkey aims not only to provide healthcare services but also to produce healthcare technology. We thank you for the services you have provided to our nation and our state. May Allah not make us ashamed in front of our nation, our state, and our President."

WHO IS PROF. DR. KEMAL MEMİŞOĞLU?

The new Minister of Health, Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu, was born in Trabzon in 1966. He graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 1990 and received his General Surgery specialization from Okmeydanı Training and Research Hospital in 1995. Between 1996 and 1998, Memişoğlu worked as a General Surgeon at SSK Konya Ereğli Hospital, PTT Hospital, and Bursa Military Hospital.

Memişoğlu, who was in the Liver and Gastrointestinal Transplantation unit at Miami University between 1999 and 2000, worked as a Senior Assistant in the Department of General Surgery at Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine between 2000 and 2002. Memişoğlu was appointed as the Chief Physician of PTT Hospital at the end of 2002 and became an Associate Professor of General Surgery in 2008.

Memişoğlu, who started his Health Management Master's program at Beykent University in 2007 and completed it in 2009, served as the Chief Physician of Istanbul Fatih Sultan Mehmet Training and Research Hospital between 2002 and 2012. In November 2012, he was appointed as the Medical Services Manager at Istanbul Anatolian Northern Region Public Hospitals Union and became the General Secretary of the same Union in May 2014.

Prof. Dr. Memişoğlu was appointed as a Professor of General Surgery at Istanbul Health Practice and Research Center of Health Sciences University in 2016. Since October 2016, he has been serving as the Director of Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate. He is married and has 3 children.