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Healthcare and Politics in Turkish History

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The Politics of Healthcare Reform in Turkey

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Abstract

This chapter describes the historical legacy of the healthcare system upon which Turkey’s healthcare reform was introduced, situating it against the background of Turkish politics. The chapter reviews the main tenets of Turkey’s healthcare system prior the reform, including financing and delivery structures, and locates it within a comparative framework.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As Buğra suggests, the Turkish state adopted a similar policy in housing. As the migration from rural to urban areas gained pace, the state started to let migrants from the rural areas settle in public lands and construct houses on public land rather than developing social housing projects.

  2. 2.

    Later scholars considered around one-third of all voters in Turkey to be traditionally left leaning, and the remaining two-thirds traditionally right leaning (Ayata 1993a, p. 32).

  3. 3.

    Different rules and regulations may apply to the provision of primary and secondary healthcare services in a particular country. To exemplify, the NHS treats general practitioners as individual entrepreneurs and works with them on a contractual basis. GPs in the United Kingdom are involved in the delivery of primary care services and are permitted to establish private practices while remaining as employees of a health authority or hospital trust. See: Rothgang, H., Cacace, M., Grimmeisen, S., Wendt, C. 2005. The Changing Role of the State in Healthcare Systems. European Review, 13, 187–212.

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  1. Graduate Program in Social Policy, Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Volkan Yılmaz

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Yılmaz, V. (2017). Healthcare and Politics in Turkish History. In: The Politics of Healthcare Reform in Turkey. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53667-5_3

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