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While global inflationary pressures increased the costs in the health sector, these costs were also reflected on the consumer. In a report created from publicly available data, it was seen that health inflation was 122.17% in 2022.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.

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TURKEY - High inflation and rising costs around the world have also hit the health sector. The increasing costs of health services are out of the pockets of patients. In the Turkey Health Inflation Review Report of ECONiX Research, which provides market and health economics research to public and academic institutions, medical equipment and health service providers in Eastern Europe, West Asia, the Middle East and North Africa with its offices in Estonia, Turkey and Tunisia, in 2022 Health inflation in Turkey was 122.17%.
 
Stating that they prepared the report to calculate the change in health inflation between 2017-2022, ECONiX Research Management Team Member Dr. Güvenç Koçkaya said, “As part of the study, variables such as medical equipment costs, drug and medical device prices, special service costs, food supplement prices for the public and private sectors were examined.”

Private health service costs increased by 184.75%

Pointing out that the highest increase in health inflation was experienced in 2022 with a rate of 122.17%, it was observed that health inflation did not exceed 25% on an annual basis between 2017 and 2021. As a result of the data obtained from the website of the Ministry of Health, it was stated that an increase of 184,75% was observed in private service fees at the end of 2022. 

Stating that the data published by the Ministry of Health, Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkish Medical Association and Economic Cooperation and Development Organization were evaluated, ECONiX Research Management Team Member Dr. Birol Tibet said, "In this report, we also used the data we obtained with our KOSGEB-supported (Small and Medium Industry Development and Support Administration) health market research platform ECONALiX."

Pharmaceutical prices have been on the rise since 2015

The data set created from the drug price lists published by the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency showed that the retail sales prices of drugs have been on an increasing trend since 2015. It was noteworthy that the Turkish Pharmaceutical Retail Price Index, which was obtained by using the cumulative calculation index calculation method over the coefficient of variation, increased from 272.2 in 2015 to 1.531.7 in 2022. In the ECONiX Research report, it was emphasized that the index of the increase in retail prices of vitamins as well as medicines has increased since 2019.

Medical equipment prices doubled in 2022

Health inflation affected not only private service costs and medicines, but also medical equipment prices. It was determined that the cumulative index of the data set, which was created based on the medical equipment prices published by the Social Security Institution, increased from 137.90 in 2021 to 271.25 within a year.
 
Stating that in the report they published in December, they stated that the production costs in the health sector increased by 51% in dollar terms, ECONiX Research Management Team Member Dr. Güvenç Koçkaya concluded: “While the increase in sectors such as raw materials, labor, transportation and energy changes the input costs, this increase inevitably reflects on health care recipients as health inflation. Although the news of the decline in inflation, especially in the USA, and the thoughts of experts that inflation peaked in 2022, raise hopes for the decrease in the increase in prices, health authorities and organizations operating in the health sector need to find solutions to make services more accessible.”