“We might be more careful [with expenditures] in crisis times. However, I ensure citizens that we will not contract any of the health services; [we will do] the opposite, we will improve them,” Minister Recep Akdağ said in a recent interview.
There will be savings in the budget, but that will in no way touch citizens’ rights to receive health services, the minister said.
“The annual health expenditures per person in Turkey are currently about $600, of which $450 is covered by the public sector,” Akdağ said. The same services are provided at about $6,000 in many countries, according to the minister. He called the ability to keep health services costs so low an “ingenuity.”
Making access to health services easier was one of the major factors that marked the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, success in the last general elections in June, Akdağ said. The Health Ministry is working hard to change people’s attitudes toward a healthier life, the minister said. Projects that aim to fight smoking or obesity are examples of such efforts, he added. |
Source : hurriyetdailynews.com
Hit : 832
|
