​Central

Central administration and de-concentrated branches

The Ministry of Health (MoH) operates an integrated system of health care, providing primary, secondary and tertiary care. Its role in health system policy development, planning, supervision of implementation, monitoring and evaluation has been strengthened in recent reforms and a new Public Health Institution been established to support the Ministry's work on preventive health care services.

The MoH is responsible for:

• Global planning and programming of health care delivery systems;
• Approving capital investment;
• Developing programmes for communicable and non-communicable diseases;
• Implementing some environmental health programmes;
• Promoting mother and child health and family planning;
• Regulating the production, prescription and dispensing of pharmaceuticals;
• Producing and/or importing vaccines, serum, blood products and medications;
• Maintaining health precautions in ports of entry; and
• Building and operating health care facilities.

General directorates within the Ministry of Health:

• The General Directorate of Primary Health Care is in charge of the strategic and operational management of health centres, health posts and, to a lesser extent, some environmental health services. It is also responsible for controlling communicable diseases;
• The General Directorate of Curative Services is in charge of Ministry of Health hospitals and develops programmes for non-communicable diseases;
• The General Directorate of Mother and Child Health and Family Planning implements programmes for maternity, family planning and selected childhood problems through health centres;
• The General Directorate of Health Education primarily operates vocational schools for training nurses, midwives, health officers and other personnel;
• The General Directorate of Pharmacy Health Care Systems in Transition and Drugs is responsible for regulating drugs, including their licensing, registration and pricing.

Regional

Provincial government

According to Article 6 (a) of the Special Provincial Administrative Act, the special provincial administrations have the duty, provided that it is of a local and common nature:

• Within provincial boundaries to provide services relating to health

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Provincial health directorates administer the health services provided by the Ministry of Health at the provincial level. Each of the 80 provinces has a health directorate led by a director who is accountable to the governor of the province.

The directorates' administrative responsibilities are primarily personnel and estate management. They also make technical decisions pertaining to health care delivery, such as the scope and volume of health services. Units that provide health care or have health care-related functions at the provincial level consist of:

• Health centres;
• Health posts, mainly in rural areas;
• Mother and child health and family planning centres;
• Tuberculosis dispensaries;
• Hospitals; and
• Public health laboratories (in some provinces).

Local

Municipalities can provide the following services (Article 14 of the Municipal Law):

• Relief services and ambulance;
• Opening and operation of health facilities.

Metropolitan Municipalities shall (Article 7 of the Law on Metropolitan Municipalities):

• Build premises and facilities for health care, carry out all forms of maintenance;
• Manage and develop health care centres, hospitals, mobile health care units of all kinds for adults, elderly people, persons with disabilities, women, young people and children; and

Issue permits to and carry out inspections on polluting businesses, including foodstuff enterprises, establish and operate laboratories to test foodstuffs and beverages.

Sources:

Constitution of Turkey, last amendment 2010.

Law on Municipalities, Law N° 5393, dates from 03.07.2005.

Law on Special Provincial Administration, Law N° 5302, dates from 22.02.2005.

Law on Metropolitan Municipalities, Law N° 5216, dates from 10.07.2004.

WHO. 2013. Country Cooperation Strategy at a glance. Turkey.