Ministry unveils 5-year public health road map

ANKARA

The Health Ministry will embark on endeavors focused on public health over the next five years, primarily targeting obesity and addiction, according to a recently released strategic plan.

Outlined in the roadmap spanning from 2024 to 2028 and encompassing five main objectives and 40 targets, the plan includes various topics ranging from safeguarding the right to a healthy life to strengthening treatment services, combating obesity and addiction and catering to individuals with special needs and the elderly.

As the primary aim is set to promote healthy living by fostering awareness and habits conducive to well-being, efforts will be directed towards reducing obesity in both children and adults.

Based on recent data from the ministry’s public health bureau, obesity prevalence is measured at 11.4 percent among primary school children and 29.1 percent in the population aged 15 and above. The plan envisages that this figure will be gradually diminished over the course of five years through societal awareness campaigns.

In this context, collaborative efforts with relevant institutions will be undertaken to enact new legislative regulations aimed at rendering food labels more comprehensible to consumers.

Initiatives will include reformulating packaged products to reduce salt content, decreasing consumption of products containing trans fats and high sugar as well as regulating advertisements for such items.

While treatment and counseling services for tobacco addiction will continue to be enhanced, collaborative education and awareness campaigns concerning the harms of addictive substances will be conducted with other institutions.

The ministry will assess the frequency and risk levels of substance abuse in society through risk maps based on socio-demographic characteristics such as region, age, gender and occupation.

Additionally, the ministry announced an increase in the number of physicians per 100,000 people from 228 to 315.