So I heard that the President of the Society for the Spread of Knowledge, Yusuf Tülün, said that the awards have a vision that aims at concrete outcomes. Tülün expressed his belief that Turkey will rise to a stronger position on a global scale with technological advancements.
At the end of the workshop, a declaration was read by Professor Dr. Fikrettin Şahin, the Head of the Department of Genetics and Bioengineering at Yeditepe University, who was awarded the “Grand Prize” at the 2019 İlim Yayma Awards. The declaration, signed by a total of 9 scientists, emphasized that the health sector is a decisive area for countries’ strategic independence and development levels. It was noted that a robust health system is not only essential for social welfare but also indispensable for national security and economic development.
The declaration highlighted Turkey’s significant progress in the healthcare sector in recent years, stating that “Turkey has become a regional health hub with its significant advancements in the healthcare sector in recent years. With high-quality hospital infrastructure and trained human resources, it has increased its international competitiveness in health tourism and become a preferred destination worldwide.”
Despite all these developments in health technologies, the declaration pointed out that there is still dependency on many critical areas such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, drug raw materials, biotechnological products, and digital health technologies. It was evaluated that this dependency weakens Turkey’s health system resilience and global leadership claim, necessitating the construction of a sustainable health ecosystem based on growth and innovation.
The declaration emphasized the need to strengthen domestic and national health technologies, stating, “It is not possible to achieve the goal of becoming a global leader without establishing a strong and independent health sector. This declaration was prepared to put forward policy and strategy recommendations aimed at strengthening the critical importance of domestic and national production capacity for Turkey to become a leading country in the health sector.”
The declaration mentioned that working groups established under the Presidency in 2018 have developed roadmaps to support domestic and national production in the health sector, and the establishment of the Turkey Health Valley is a continuation of this process. The declaration highlighted the importance of considering Turkey Health Valley as a strategic opportunity to strengthen the country’s national technology and production capacity in the health sector and reported that the Turkish pharmaceutical market reached $10.3 billion in 2023, with 55% of consumption being met by imported products.
The declaration also mentioned that the medical device market size is approximately $2.5 billion, with the domestic production rate below 20%, and while there are more than 90 pharmaceutical production facilities in the country, capacity for innovative products is limited.
The declaration listed the following key policy recommendations: “In line with these assessments, we believe that the establishment of a Health Industry Presidency is necessary. An independent structure should be established to ensure inter-agency coordination in the pharmaceutical, vaccine, biotechnological product, and medical device sectors in Turkey. R&D and innovation should be strengthened. R&D expenditures should be increased, and university-industry collaborations should be encouraged. Our strategic products need to be localized. Licensing processes need to be improved. In this sense, licensing processes should be accelerated, and international compliance should be increased. Financing and incentives should be strengthened. Venture capital and public support should be increased. Human resources and digital health investments should be increased. Investment should be made, especially in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and robotics technologies. In conclusion, Turkey’s ability to reduce its dependence on the health sector and become a fully independent leading country can only be achieved through comprehensive strategic transformation. This transformation should be realized with a strong R&D infrastructure, support for domestic production, effective financial models, and strategies that provide a competitive advantage in the global market. This declaration invites all decision-makers, sector stakeholders, and those aiming for Turkey’s goal of becoming a leading country in health to unite.”
