The Minister of Health, Memişoğlu, explained the details of the new incentive regulation for family physicians.

The Minister of Health, Kemal Memişoğlu, stated, "Our goal in 2025 is to establish approximately a thousand new Family Health Centers and to create an infrastructure that will provide better service to them (family physicians) with a corporate identity. We also have a goal for Healthy Life Centers; we want to establish over 100 in 2025."

Minister Memişoğlu made statements regarding the agenda and answered questions during a meeting with health reporters at the Ministry.

"FIRST HUMAN, FIRST GOODNESS"

Memişoğlu emphasized that their approach as a Ministry is first human and the well-being of humans.

"When we ask people, including in Turkey, 'What is the essential element of happiness?' the first parameter is health, as you know, meaning that over 65-70% of people define health as the essential element in their lives. Therefore, we must act with the awareness that the source of this happiness is health," said Memişoğlu, noting that they do not consider a person's color, gender, or opinion when providing health services. Memişoğlu continued his remarks: "When providing health services, we serve everyone equally and because they are human. Our approach is first human, we say the well-being of humans, the well-being of society, the well-being of civilization, and the well-being of the world. Unfortunately, today, the world is living in a civilization of evil, where evil prevails, where people kill each other, and where 45,000 people have died in live broadcasts. We believe that we need to work harder to correct this from the side of goodness, to act together, and that the good side must act together. Therefore, we are working on how we can do better regarding health. We will all do better together."

"MY PRIORITY IS PREVENTIVE MEDICINE, PRIMARY CARE"

Pointing out that his priority is preventive medicine, Memişoğlu stated, "My priority is preventive medicine, primary care. I say this every time. We must create a management system for people to take care of themselves and their bodies without becoming ill and to stay healthy."

Memişoğlu expressed that the Ministry of Health should work before diseases emerge, saying, "We always say we are not a disease ministry. First, we need to teach people preventive medicine and the culture of preventive health. The important health workers here are you. Because you are the ones who will create news that will increase the health literacy of society and raise awareness. We cannot increase the health literacy rate of society or teach them that they need to take care of their health without your help while producing or supporting these."

"WE PREPARED A NORMAL BIRTH ACTION PLAN"

Emphasizing that media representatives also have a responsibility in increasing health literacy, Kemal Memişoğlu stated, "Because when we look today, we see that one of Turkey's biggest problems is obesity and weight, and we see addiction. This is not just about smoking or substance addiction."

Memişoğlu highlighted that one of today's most significant addictions is digital addiction, stating, "In addition, the low fertility rate, the sedentary lifestyle, and the changes in eating habits and lifestyle of a society that has urbanized very quickly, perhaps in 30-40 years, are the reasons for our inactivity and weight problems."

HE POINTED OUT THE DANGERS OF EXCESS WEIGHT

Memişoğlu expressed that excess weight is one of the causes of everything from stroke to joint diseases and heart diseases, stating: "Unfortunately, the smoking rate in Turkey is very high, especially among our young women and children, who have unfortunately started to use cigarettes more recently. Smoking is a substance that affects all kinds of diseases, from lung cancer to COPD. Therefore, we need to explain the harms of these to society. On the other hand, we talk about fertility rates, and society sometimes criticizes, 'Why are you interfering with us?' But when you look, a family cannot be without children. Having siblings in a family is also important. People develop with siblings. You share, you struggle, you support each other. However, we do not only look at this issue from the sibling perspective. Turkey's renewable population must not decrease."

"TURKEY'S POPULATION IS AGING"

"A population growth rate of 1.5 means that this population is decreasing, let alone aging. We need to raise awareness in society about this. We have prepared a Normal Birth Action Plan, as you know. But we need to explain this to society. From the doctor to the patient, from the pregnant woman to the family as a whole, we need to explain that the norm is birth, and the other is surgery. We especially desire your support for these kinds of policies, which we call preventive, that will protect health before illness, and for a lot of messages to be given to society on this issue."

"WE ARE NOT CUTTING THE SALARIES OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS"

Memişoğlu conveyed that they have always said they would support family physicians, stating, "We have said from the beginning that we will support family medicine. Because family medicine is the first point of contact for society and our closest health ambassador, the door through which we provide health services."

Recalling that they made legislative and regulatory changes regarding family medicine, Memişoğlu said, "In addition, our goal in 2025 is to establish approximately a thousand new Family Health Centers and to create an infrastructure that will provide better service to them with a corporate identity. We also have a goal for Healthy Life Centers; we want to establish over 100 in 2025."

"WE COMPARE FAMILY PHYSICIANS WITH THEMSELVES"

Stating that preventive medicine is the most important element of basic health, Minister Memişoğlu noted: "There can sometimes be disinformation regarding legislation, and there can also be misunderstandings. Here we say that we want to reduce the registered population of family physicians to 3,500 so that the physician can follow all health parameters of the people registered with them, especially groups like the elderly, diabetics, and hypertension patients. Let there be no misunderstanding; we are not cutting the salaries of family physicians. We are trying to provide more incentives to family physicians based on the health of their own population and want them to play an active role in ensuring that their population does not become ill. Therefore, we compare family physicians with themselves. If their population, the population they are responsible for, is healthier than in the previous period, we see this as the success of the family physician."```html

Because we see that the family physician is the one who will ensure that people in their responsible area do not get sick if they take care of themselves, and we know that the individual has their own responsibility. Therefore, we trust family physicians in this matter, and we know that their income will also increase. We want the difference between those who work and those who do not to be clear. For this reason, we will provide incentives, additional payments, and salaries to family physicians. We do not wish for disinformation on this matter.

"WE ARE CONDUCTING A COMPLETE CHECK-UP OF OUR MINISTRY'S SERVICES"

Memişoğlu also made statements regarding the difficulties that can occur in appointments in some branches through the Central Physician Appointment System (MHRS).

Memişoğlu, who said, "We know that there are difficulties in appointments in some branches, and we will solve these as soon as possible," reminded that they published the "Regulation on Amendments to the Ministry of Health Appointment and Relocation Regulation" today.

Minister Memişoğlu stated, "As you know, in 2002, there was a seven-fold difference between the most developed region and the underdeveloped region in the distribution of physicians in Turkey. In our developed regions, there were seven times more healthcare personnel. We have now reduced this to a 2.5-fold difference. We published such a regulation to further reduce this."

Memişoğlu continued: "We are conducting a complete check-up of our Ministry's services. In other words, we are in the process of restructuring our inspection methods and healthcare services. In this regard, we have established a scientific commission for inspection and evaluation related to newborns. We will do this in all branches: emergency, adult intensive care, oncology, etc. We are working on how to make the operation more effective by controlling our service areas.

"WE WANT TO PRODUCE HEALTH SCIENCE AS WELL"

Emphasizing the importance they attach to health tourism, Memişoğlu continued his remarks as follows: "In particular, to be more effective in health tourism, we aim to grow our healthcare services by restructuring USHAŞ and making USHAŞ more effective. We believe that the public side of healthcare needs to develop further in this regard. Alongside preventive and primary healthcare services, the most important thing for me is that we also want your support in this matter because we have a long way to go and many tasks to accomplish. We do not want to be just a country that provides healthcare services well; we want to produce knowledge in health science while providing healthcare services."

"OUR PHYSICIANS ARE THE PRIDE OF THE WORLD"

"Currently, the healthcare workers in Turkey, especially the group of physicians, are truly seen as the pride of the world; our pride in the world is in terms of knowledge and hard work. This needs to be known by society. We all live in this country. Healthcare services have developed incredibly in the last 20 years under the leadership of our President, and we saw during Covid-19 and the earthquake that you live in a country that is a role model for healthcare services worldwide. The healthcare workers and physician group who made this possible are part of our healthcare system. I want to ensure that the rights of our one and a half million healthcare workers are not violated by those who have not experienced exceptional humanity and are even imprisoned."

"INFANT MORTALITY RATES HAVE DROPPED"

Noting that the infant mortality rate has decreased from 35 per thousand live births to 7.1, Memişoğlu stated, "For Istanbul, it has been reduced to 9.2. We are talking about a healthcare system and healthcare workers that have increased the survival rate of our premature babies born under 37 weeks to over 95%."

Using the expression, "We are talking about a healthcare system and healthcare workers that have increased life expectancy to 78 years," Minister Memişoğlu said, "We must not allow this to be criticized or tarnished due to the misdeeds of a few unfortunate individuals. The faults of a few should not tarnish the reputation of such significant services and workers that are better than those in Europe and the world. It is you, us, and responsible individuals who will achieve this."

HE THANKED THE MEDIA

Thanking media representatives, Memişoğlu said, "You are the ones on the ground. The news you make affects many people. Thus, you contribute to both the development of public health and our further development. We are all people who serve this nation and society. Our goal is to establish a better healthcare system and create a better country. Therefore, we are doing our best."