Independence in Healthcare: Becoming a Country That Creates Technology
The New Paradigm of Health Tourism – Part 12
30 August is one of the strongest symbols of this country’s determination to remain independent. Independence usually brings borders, defence and political sovereignty to mind. Today it also involves energy, food, technology and, in my view, an area requiring much more thought: healthcare.
Last week, we argued that future health systems require people who produce knowledge, develop technology and bring different disciplines together, alongside more physicians and health workers. Let us take that thought further. A system’s true strength depends on its ability to produce the technology, medicines, medical devices, software and knowledge it uses, as well as on good hospitals and physicians.
Dependence in healthcare is more than an economic issue
A few minutes in a hospital reveal a vast technology ecosystem: MRI and CT systems, robotic surgery platforms, laboratory devices, intensive care equipment, implants, medicines, biotechnology products, AI software, patient information systems and genetic analysis technologies. Healthcare is deeply intertwined with advanced technology. Importing a large share of these technologies affects the system’s sustainability, resilience and strategic room for manoeuvre, as well as its import bill.
The pandemic made this clear worldwide. Having money does not always guarantee access. Sometimes everyone needs the same product at once. At that point, production capacity becomes strategic power.
Building hospitals is not enough
Türkiye has developed substantial healthcare infrastructure, modern hospitals, skilled physicians, advanced treatments and service experience. We must now ask:
How much of the technology inside these hospitals do we produce?
Building hospitals alone does not create a health technology country. We must develop their equipment, produce software, analyse data, create AI algorithms, research medicines, develop biotechnology products and, when appropriate, export these systems.
I believe our objective must expand from delivering services towards producing technology.
Lessons from the defence industry
Last week, we discussed how transformation in defence created a new generation, workforce and role models. An ecosystem emerged alongside products. Engineers were trained, companies established, universities engaged, young people became interested and entrepreneurship developed. Technologies once purchased abroad could now be developed in Türkiye.
Healthcare needs a similar change in mindset. Why should a robotic surgery system used worldwide not originate in Türkiye? Why should Turkish engineers not develop next-generation imaging? Why should Türkiye not build global brands in AI diagnostics? Why should Turkish biotechnology, genomics and personalised medicine companies not play international roles? Why should new drug molecules, devices and digital health platforms not be developed here? The healthcare sector cannot achieve these objectives alone.
Where physicians and engineers meet
This may be the critical point for future technology. Physicians understand patients’ problems; engineers understand technology; data scientists interpret data; software developers digitise solutions; biologists and genetic specialists understand molecular mechanisms; managers turn these capabilities into sustainable models. Each is valuable. Real innovation emerges when they work together. Türkiye needs more such multidisciplinary structures in universities and healthcare institutions.
Medical faculties should become centres developing products and technology with engineering, computer science, pharmacy, biotechnology, business and healthcare management, alongside training physicians.
Universities must do more than award degrees
We must reconsider universities’ roles. Success should also be assessed through patents, health technologies, research translated into products, new ventures, participation in international research networks and technologies made available to healthcare. Future universities will turn knowledge into products, technology and economic value, alongside transmitting it.
Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology are strategic fields
Medicines are a critical part of healthcare independence. Biotechnology medicines, vaccines, personalised therapies and advanced therapy products will account for a larger share of the health economy. Türkiye must expand research and development, molecule discovery, clinical research, biotechnology manufacturing and international regulatory capacity, beyond generic production and packaging. Real strength includes the ability to develop and produce a medicine when necessary, alongside access to it.
Who owns the data?
Health data is another strategic field. As AI develops, data generates knowledge, research, technology and economic value. Türkiye’s large health system serves millions and offers significant clinical data potential. Managed correctly, without compromising privacy or ethics, it could become a major advantage. If we merely help develop other countries’ technologies using our data, we will miss much of that opportunity. We must protect data while also producing knowledge and technology ourselves.
The stakes are greater for health tourism
Quality treatment alone may be insufficient for lasting global strength. Competition will increasingly ask: who develops better technology, offers personalised treatment, integrates AI most effectively, builds pharmaceutical and biotechnology capacity, manages data securely and prepares professionals for the future? Türkiye must compete through knowledge and technology alongside service advantages. International patients should be able to use Turkish health technology, software and domestically developed devices, and perhaps future Turkish-developed medicines, as well as receive care from Turkish physicians. That would take the economic value of health tourism to a different level.
Healthcare independence does not mean closing ourselves to the world
Science develops across borders. We will draw on knowledge from East and West, work with international universities, conduct joint research, cooperate with global companies and connect our scientists with centres worldwide. We should contribute knowledge and technology as well as acquire them. A service may generate value within one patient journey, while its technology can be exported to hundreds of hospitals and create much greater, sustainable value.
We must arrive at the table with knowledge, technology and products. Perhaps true independence means developing our own productive capacity while remaining strongly integrated with the world. 30 August reminds us of the determination independence requires. Science and technology are new frontiers of that determination. We have seen what is possible in defence, taken our first steps in space and developed a new digital generation. Why not healthcare?
Why should Türkiye not become a country producing healthcare knowledge, medicines, devices and technology, alongside a destination for treatment? Perhaps this is one way to carry the idea of independence embodied by 30 August into the future:
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