Evaluation of the Transformation Program in the Turkish Health System

Abstract

Health is the most important and indispensable resource of human life. Health is not only achieved through medical treatment methods and individual efforts; public services and policies and socioeconomic factors are also determinants of health. States and policymakers formulate health policies with an understanding that can be characterized as social medicine by evaluating the social phenomena of health. The process of determining health policies is shaped by the participation of national and international actors due to the democratic governance approach, public expectations seen in the last century, and the search for resources for financing health. As a result, there was a need for reform in the health system in Turkey, and a comprehensive transformation program was prepared and put into practice in 2003 and afterward, which can be described as the last period. In this article, to determine the effects of the Health Transformation Program on the health system and society, the development of the health system in Turkey during this process is examined, and its structural and economic effects are evaluated.