Provision of services

The Constitution gives the Ministry of Health the responsibility to protect and improve public health in Turkey. However, certain aspects of public health require intersectoral collaboration. As will be discussed below, the Ministry of Health leads the process in areas where this collaboration is needed. The Ministry of Health undertakes this responsibility both through its centralized departments and through the provincial health directorates. Prior to the full implementation of the family practitioner scheme nationwide (at the end of 2010), health posts and health centres in rural areas undertook the majority of disease prevention, health education and other public health-related measures. Now, these activities are carried out by population health centres. Centrally, both the General Directorate of Primary Health Care Services and the General Directorate of Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning are responsible for public health. In addition to these, the departments for malaria control, cancer control and tuberculosis control in the Ministry of Health and the Refik Saydam Hygiene Centre Presidency also undertake public health measures.