Turkey’s Healthcare Policies and the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the pandemic, health policies have been affected by many factors. The primary concerns are the current health system, human resources for health and an epidemic management strategy. Due to the ‘Health Transformation Program’, health services in Turkey have changed in terms of structure, service delivery and financing. Increasing investments in therapeutic services and private-public cooperation within the scope of the program has made preventive healthcare services weak in terms of structure and health personnel. Although interventions for the management of the outbreak were initiated quickly, the failure to fully implement a suppression strategy and the early removal of the interventions, have led to an increase in the number of cases. Also, a lack of transparency in data sharing has led to the failure to properly organise health services for epidemic control and has shaken the public’s trust in public institutions. In addition, due to the changing health system, people and institutions with knowledge in epidemic management were not able to transfer their experience, which prevented necessary and effective interventions from being carried out on time. As a result, it became impossible to develop effective and rapid health policies during the epidemic in a country that is constantly changing in terms of both structural and human resources for health, there is no transparency for data sharing and scientists are forced into the role of consultants and are not able to participate in the stages of policymaking

Analyses pluridisciplinaires sur la crise sanitaire COVID-19 en Turquie

L’objet de ce dossier vise à croiser les regards et les approches disciplinaires pour proposer des analyses plurielles de la crise sanitaire COVID-19 en Turquie. Les différentes approches font émerger des questionnements transversaux. Un premier questionnement tient à la pertinence des différents pouvoirs (locaux, étatiques, internationaux) face à des épidémies qui présentent toutes des spécificités, tant du point de vue de la diffusion et de la prévention, que des savoirs ou de la prise en charge. Une deuxième interrogation transversale porte sur la compénétration des pratiques et rituels sociaux et des dispositifs techniques. Les épidémies transforment le quotidien en validant ou répudiant certaines pratiques, et en induisant des réponses techniques qui sont à leur tour ritualisées. Comment interpréter cette transformation des pratiques ? Un troisième questionnement porte sur la frontière entre experts et profanes et à son évolution dans la temporalité de la pandémie. L’idée qu’un événement de l’ampleur d’une épidémie nécessitait une réponse organisée, et par conséquent un pilotage politico-sanitaire surplombant s’est heurtée à la durée de la pandémie, à l’évolution des connaissances à son sujet et à la compétition des objectifs stratégiques des politiques publiques, même lorsque ceux-ci, la santé et l’économie notamment, ne pouvaient aller l’un sans l’autre

Casebook for Advocacy in Public Health

The Global Charter for Public’s Healthhighlights advocacy as a key function of public health. However, in many countries the study, teaching, and application of advocacy to improve population health remains neglected. Increasing the capacity for advocacy can have many positive effects on population health such as stimulating the development of health policies in public and private sectors or prioritizing public health efforts higher in political agendas globally through public health evidence based research on advocacy. The Casebook on Advocacy in Public Health serves as a tool for national public health associations and other actors to improve their capacity of influence on national public health policies through advocacy efforts.The Casebook establishes what is public health advocacy and emphasizes the importance of advocacy as an essential public health function by bringing together 18 cases of public health advocacy from different corners of the world. It covers a range of public health topics from tackling climate change at a global level to improving the conditions in African prisons with investigative journalism and strategic litigation. Additionally, by drawing on the similarities and differences of the various experiences included in the casebook, key issues such as gender equity, discrimination, and investment in wellbeing and health equity are raised and advocacy is highlighted as an essential public health tool to tackle these issues.Ultimately, the Casebook aims to increase knowledge and the capacity to develop and implement advocacy strategies to improve population health at local, regional, national and international levels, as well as inspire the development of curricula and other training materials to strengthen advocacy efforts by supporting instruction, debate, dialogue and action