Minister Memişoğlu: “We are working with the belief that the health sector can be the locomotive sector of Turkey.”

Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu stated, “We work with the belief that the health sector can be the locomotive sector of Turkey. One of our biggest goals is to make the significant development process in health experienced in Turkey a livable reality worldwide.”

Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu participated in the Health Sector Consultation Meeting hosted by Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB). The meeting included many representatives from five sectors: pharmaceutical industry, medical, cosmetics, health services, and international health tourism, discussing the issues and proposed solutions in these sectors.

In his opening speech at the meeting, Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu noted that they are managing and developing health-related services in a way that would serve as an example to the world. Memişoğlu emphasized that merely providing health services is not sufficient, stating, “It is not enough to provide good health services to Turkey. With such good healthcare workers, such good infrastructure, and such good human resources, it is no longer enough for us to provide the best accessible health services in the world. We must now be a primary pioneer in the health sector globally. If we are to be a primary pioneer, we need to produce health knowledge, create health technology, and offer new things related to health. On our way here, we want to take a step that will not only focus on the service side of health but also be the beginning of all kinds of innovations related to health worldwide together with you.”

“We work with the belief that the health sector can be the locomotive sector of Turkey”

Minister Memişoğlu also stated that they came together with health sector representatives to hear the sector’s problems, demands, and criticisms, saying, “We work with the belief that the health sector can be the locomotive sector of Turkey. One of our biggest goals is to make the significant development process in health experienced in Turkey a livable reality worldwide. It is anticipated that there will be a significant change regarding biology and health in the world, especially in the future. Therefore, we must open a new horizon today with your enthusiasm and support regarding health. This horizon should not only be in service but also in producing technology, manufacturing devices, or partnering with major producers in the world. We need to work together so that Turkey becomes not just a place where health devices are marketed but where they are produced or partnered.

“I promise to support every individual who strives for production”

Memişoğlu emphasized that they will support the efforts made towards production in the health sector as a Ministry, stating, “I promise you that I, along with my team, will be the supporter of every public or private individual who will do good things and strive for production. We are people who have great talent in doing new things. I know that during the Covid period, very diverse solutions were produced locally that no one could think of. When we look at crises, we achieved great successes by coming together without any discrimination. However, as soon as we relax a bit, our problems reappear. That is why I believe that this society should highlight its unifying aspects, not its divisive ones, that our differences are a richness, and that the most important thing is that there is nothing we cannot achieve if we act together.”

After Minister Memişoğlu’s speech, the Health Sector Consultation Meeting continued behind closed doors.