| 05 Décembre 2012
LONDON, UK (GlobalData), 4 December 2012 - The healthcare system in Turkey has undergone a long period of development through the Health Transformation Program 2003–2013, but a new report by healthcare experts GlobalData states that the future may still hold major issues.
The new report* explains that Turkey’s current economic woes are presenting a challenge to the country’s healthcare system. Turkish government procedures were successful in preventing the 2009 recession from becoming a full-blown depression, however, November 2010-September 2011 saw the value of Turkish Lira fall by 25%. This resulted in the Lira representing the world's worst performing emerging market currency during this period.
Turkey suffers from a growing prevalence of non-communicable and chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer due to increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and an elderly population that has increased to more than 10% of the population. With unemployment in 2011 at 9.9%, the national health insurance programs of Turkey will be heavily burdened as increasing healthcare facilities are demanded by a population that is less able to afford them.
In Turkey, the Social Security Institution (Sosyal Guvenlik Kurumu, SGK) runs the new healthcare reimbursement system and reimburses approximately 80% of all drug purchases. In January 2011, 61.2 million (83%) of the population was covered under SGK insurance. SGK provides long-term benefits such as old-age pensions, invalidity insurance, invalidity pensions and marriage benefits, and short-term benefits such as workers compensation and maternity leave.
However, the private health insurance industry is also well developed in Turkey. Using private insurance typically results in better quality health service in the country, and thus is very popular for those who can afford it. High private healthcare expenditure in private hospitals, which are more plentiful than public facilities, affects patient affordability and makes for a lower coverage of services in public health insurance.
In 2010, Turkey’s pharmaceutical market size was approximately US$9.8 billion, and was the sixth largest in Europe. It has an estimated
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.1% from 2005 and looks to reach US$21.6 billion by 2020.
*Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape - Turkey
