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Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said the average age at which people in Turkiye start smoking is 17, calling tobacco use a dramatic problem and citing figures showing that 30 percent of young people aged 13 to 17 smoke.

Speaking at a Turkish Parliamentarians' Association program, Memisoglu outlined the country's main health challenges, progress in hospital and family medicine infrastructure, and plans to develop domestic medical technology.

Five priority health problems

Memisoglu told participants at the Turkish Parliamentarians' Association program that the ministry had launched the "Healthy Turkiye Century" program under a model it calls "Protecting, Developing and Producing Health." The minister briefed the audience on the country's priority health issues and the work being carried out in those areas.

Memisoglu identified five fundamental health problems in Turkiye: obesity, tobacco and other harmful habits, drugs, behavioral addictions and low fertility rates. On tobacco, the minister cited the latest research by the Turkish Statistical Institute, saying that of a population of 7.5 million children and young people aged 13 to 17, 2.5 million smoke. "The average age at which society starts smoking in Turkiye is 17, so we are facing a dramatic problem," Memisoglu said.

Infrastructure growth and earlier cancer diagnosis

Memisoglu said the health infrastructure has been significantly expanded. The number of hospitals rose from 1,156 to 1,526, bed capacity increased from 164,000 to 274,000, qualified beds grew from 18,000 to 184,000, intensive care beds rose from 2,000 to 48,000, and the health workforce reached 1.5 million from 378,000.

Work by family physicians has led to cancer diagnoses in 8,000 people over the past year before any clinical symptoms appeared, Memisoglu said, describing early detection as vital. Patients can also book hospital appointments through family physicians, with their symptoms and medical histories transmitted to the relevant doctors via an electronic system.

Since Memisoglu took office, the ministry has built 524 family health centers and 45 healthy life centers, with construction continuing on 365 family health centers and 766 more planned. Sixty-eight hospitals have been completed this year, 12 oral and dental health centers have been built, and 106 hospitals are under construction.

Birth support and integrated care

Memisoglu said normal birth is physiological while a cesarean is a form of surgery. Midwives are assigned to first-time mothers during the last three months of pregnancy, and the "Mother's Journey" mobile application has been introduced. Primary cesarean rates have fallen by 5.5 points since 2024, the minister said.

A system integrating home health, palliative care, remote health services and family medicine has been piloted in Kayseri and Izmir and will be expanded nationwide, Memisoglu said. Regulations covering "wellness" services have also been introduced in the private sector. "Two red lines: no treatment purposes, and no convalescence period," Memisoglu said, explaining that patients in the six months after surgery cannot be cared for at such centers, but may receive services there afterward.

Domestic medical technology and infant mortality

The "Producing Health" model aims to turn scientific ideas into products and develop local health technologies, Memisoglu said. A mobile X-ray device has been produced in Turkiye, and a heart-lung machine developed with ASELSAN is now in use with a domestic content rate above 90 percent. Within two years, ultrasound devices with a 70 percent domestic content rate are to be manufactured and eight vaccines developed locally.

Memisoglu said the infant mortality rate is a major indicator of health service quality. The rate fell from 31.5 per 1,000 live births in 2002 to 7.7 today, declining from 8.9 per 1,000 in 2024 to 7.7 within one year.

Key takeaways

• Average age of starting smoking in Turkiye is 17, Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said.
• Two out of 7.5 million young people aged 13 to 17, or 2.5 million, smoke, according to the latest TurkStat research cited by the minister.
• Family physicians helped diagnose cancer in 8,000 people in the past year before symptoms appeared.
• Primary cesarean rates have dropped by 5.5 points since 2024 with midwife assignments and support for normal birth.