Nearly 52 Million Examinations Conducted in Primary Healthcare Services in Istanbul

While a total of 130 million examinations were conducted in Istanbul in the first seven months of the year, approximately 52 million of them took place in family healthcare centers. In statements made within the scope of Public Health Week, important data regarding preventive health services, cancer screenings, and specialist physician referrals were shared.

The Share of Primary Healthcare Services

Efforts to strengthen primary healthcare services in Istanbul continue. Out of 130 million 400 thousand examinations conducted in the city between January 1 and July 31, 51 million 845 thousand 321 were performed in family healthcare centers.

Istanbul Provincial Health Director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdullah Emre Güner stated that the number of health centers, which was 217 in 2002, has risen to 1,121 under the name of family health centers, and the number of family physicians has reached 5,204.

Significant Increase in Cancer Screenings

Within the scope of preventive health services in the city, approximately 460 thousand people underwent cancer screenings between January 1 and July 31. As a result of these screenings, cancer was diagnosed in approximately 1,500 people who had no complaints.

It was reported that compared to last year, a 30 percent increase was recorded in cancer screenings, and an increase of approximately 150 percent in breast cancer screenings.

Childhood Screenings and Vaccination

In autism screenings conducted in family healthcare centers, more than 3 thousand children have been diagnosed with autism to date. In addition, SMA screenings were performed on approximately 90 thousand newborns and 70 thousand adults in Istanbul.

While successful results have been achieved in the fight against infectious diseases thanks to vaccination programs, vaccination was administered to 2 million 400 thousand people across the city during the year.

Direct Specialist Physician Appointments

Thanks to special quotas allocated to family physicians in family health centers, citizens can obtain specialist physician appointments without directly applying to the Central Physician Appointment System.

Within the scope of the practice, approximately 2 million people applied to secondary and third-tier healthcare institutions in hospitals with the referral of family physicians in the first seven months of the year.