24.10.2026 23:10
Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu announced that, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute's (TÜİK) latest study, 2.5 million of the 7.5 million people aged 13–17 in Turkey—that is, 30 percent—smoke. Noting that the average age of starting smoking is 17, Memişoğlu said that 8.5 billion packs of cigarettes were sold in 2025 and that $15 billion is spent on cigarettes annually, describing the situation as a “dramatic problem.”
Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu said, "Thirty percent of the population between the ages of 13 and 17 in Türkiye smokes. We are facing a dramatic problem."
Minister Memişoğlu attended the Turkish Parliamentarians Union Program. In his speech, Minister Memişoğlu stated that they had launched the Healthy Türkiye Century program with the "Protecting, Improving and Producing Health" model, and provided information on Türkiye's priority health problems and the work carried out in these areas.
Stating that Türkiye has five main health problems, Minister Memişoğlu listed them as obesity, tobacco and bad habits, drugs, behavioral addictions, and low fertility rate. Minister Memişoğlu underlined that especially obesity and tobacco use must be combated to protect public health.
8.5 BILLION PACKS OF CIGARETTES SOLD PER YEAR
Pointing out that tobacco use is an important public health problem, Minister of Health Memişoğlu said that 8.5 billion packs of cigarettes were sold in Türkiye in 2025 and that the cash spent on cigarettes reaches 15 billion dollars annually. Minister Memişoğlu spoke as follows: "In the latest TÜİK survey conducted today, the population of children and young people between the ages of 13 and 17 in Türkiye is currently 7.5 million. Of this population of 7.5 million, 2.5 million smoke. That is, 30 percent of the population between the ages of 13 and 17 smokes in this society right now. And the average age of starting smoking in society is 17 in Türkiye. That is why we are facing a dramatic problem. I am particularly pointing this out to you."
CANCER DIAGNOSED IN 8 THOUSAND PEOPLE BEFORE SYMPTOMS DEVELOP
Reporting that, through the work of family physicians, 8 thousand people were diagnosed with cancer in the last year before clinical symptoms had yet developed, Minister Memişoğlu emphasized the importance of early diagnosis. Memişoğlu noted that appointments can be made from hospitals through family physicians and that information about patients' symptoms and histories can be transmitted to the relevant physicians via the electronic system.
Stating that they had made regulations to facilitate access to medicines used with a health board report, Minister Memişoğlu said that family physicians' authority to prescribe medicines and issue reports had been expanded. Expressing that free cancer screenings continue, Minister Memişoğlu reported that 31 million people had been reached through all screenings.
Stating that free services are offered in 17 branches at Healthy Life Centers, Minister of Health Memişoğlu emphasized that citizens should benefit from these centers even before they become ill. Minister Memişoğlu stated that, in addition to dietitian, physiotherapist, psychologist, sociologist, dentist and child development specialist services, cancer screenings and preventive health services are offered at the centers.
Stating that healthcare infrastructure in Türkiye had been significantly strengthened, Minister Memişoğlu said that the number of hospitals had risen from 1,156 to 1,526 and the number of beds from 164 thousand to 274 thousand. Noting that the number of qualified beds had been increased from 18 thousand to 184 thousand and the number of intensive care beds from 2 thousand to 48 thousand, Minister Memişoğlu stated that the number of healthcare workers had also reached 1.5 million from 378 thousand.
PRIMARY CESAREAN RATE DROPPED BY 5.5 POINTS
Also touching on efforts to support normal delivery, Minister Memişoğlu said, "Normal birth is the physiological one. Cesarean is a form of surgery."
Stating that midwives are assigned to expectant mothers experiencing their first pregnancy during the last three months of pregnancy and that the Mother's Journey mobile application had been implemented, Minister Memişoğlu reported that primary cesarean rates had dropped by 5.5 points for the first time since 2024.
Stating that they had created a system integrating home health, palliative care, telehealth services and family medicine, Minister of Health Memişoğlu said that the application was being carried out as a pilot in Kayseri and İzmir. Noting that work was being done to direct patients discharged from intensive care to care units suited to their needs and to monitor them remotely at home, Minister Memişoğlu stated that the application would be expanded throughout Türkiye.
Stating that they had also implemented wellness legislation aimed at helping healthy individuals protect their health, Minister Memişoğlu said that no treatment-oriented procedures would be performed at these centers and that services would not be provided to patients in the recovery period. Minister Memişoğlu said, "Do you know what the wellness legislation is? This is the health service for keeping healthy people healthy. We opened it in the private sector. We have two red lines: One, there will be no treatment-purpose or treatment-oriented procedures. Two, it will not be during the convalescence period either. That is, within the six months after your surgery, during that recovery period, you cannot be cared for at a wellness center. But after six months have passed, the patient will receive physical therapy. Then, if you wish, you can easily receive health services at these wellness centers."
Stating that since he took office as Minister they had built 524 family health centers and 45 healthy life centers, Memişoğlu stated that construction of 365 family health centers was continuing and that 766 more centers were planned. Minister Memişoğlu reported that 68 hospitals had been completed this year, 12 oral and dental health centers had been built, and construction of 106 hospitals was continuing.
Stating that with the "Producing Health" model they aimed to turn scientific ideas into products and develop domestic health technologies, Minister Memişoğlu said that they brought scientists together with manufacturers and financiers. Noting that a mobile X-ray device had been produced in Türkiye and that an artificial intelligence feature had been added to the device, Minister of Health Memişoğlu stated that the heart-lung machine developed with ASELSAN had begun to be used with a domestic content rate above 90 percent. Minister Memişoğlu also stated that within two years they aimed to produce ultrasound devices with a 70 percent domestic content rate and to develop eight vaccines domestically.
Emphasizing that the infant mortality rate is one of the important indicators showing the quality of health services, Minister Memişoğlu stated that the infant mortality rate, which was 31.5 per thousand in live births in 2002, had fallen to 7.7 per thousand today. Stating that the rate had declined from 8.9 per thousand in 2024 to 7.7 per thousand in one year, Minister Memişoğlu used the expressions, "Do you know what 1.1 means? It means 3 thousand babies are alive."