Number of doctor visits exceeded 1.1 billion: Inequality in healthcare is growing
According to Ministry of Health data, the number of doctor visits exceeded 1.1 billion in 2025, reaching 13.2 per capita, while experts drew attention to disruptions in the system.
According to the Ministry of Health's 2025 Health Statistics Yearbook, the number of doctor visits in the country broke records by exceeding 1.1 billion, with the per capita application rate rising to 13.2. Experts emphasized that the system cannot bear this burden and that regional inequalities are deepening.
Record Increase in Number of Doctor Visits
According to data from the 2025 Health Statistics Yearbook News Bulletin published by the Ministry of Health, the number of doctor applications, which was 1 billion 47 million in 2024, rose to over 1 billion 138 million in 2025. With this increase, the annual per capita doctor visit rate reached the level of 13.2. Experts stated that this figure, which is well above the OECD average, indicates a serious system disruption.
Impact of Health Policies on Hospital Burden
The absence of a referral system and performance-based payment policies significantly increased the burden, particularly on training and research hospitals. The inability to allocate sufficient time to patients and requesting direct tests without a physical examination negatively affected treatment processes and caused hospital applications to multiply.
Distribution of Physicians and Regional Inequalities
While the total number of physicians in Turkey reached 232,315 in 2025, 111,472 of them were specialist physicians. The number of specialist physicians per 100,000 people was 180 in West Anatolia, whereas it dropped to 79 in Southeast Anatolia. This situation highlighted major regional inequalities in access to healthcare services.
Vaccination Rates and Other Health Indicators
Declines were also experienced in childhood vaccination rates; the DTaP vaccination rate, which was 96 percent in 2024, dropped to 84 percent in 2025. During the same period, 59 percent of live births occurred via Cesarean section, and the number of intensive care beds fell to 48,360.
Assessments by Experts and Politicians
Public Health Expert and parliamentarian Prof. Dr. Kayıhan Pala criticized the late publication of statistics and regional gaps. Pala noted that the infant mortality rate was 11.5 per thousand in Southeast Anatolia and 5.6 per thousand in West Marmara, stating that Turkey faces the risk of a measles outbreak due to the drops in vaccinations.