Turkey’s 2025 health tourism regulation: what has changed for patients coming from abroad?

What happened?

The Ministry of Health’s Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist Health was published in Official Gazette No. 32882 on 26 April 2025. The new regulation repealed the previous regulation, published in Official Gazette No. 30123 of 13 July 2017. The rules concern healthcare facilities that serve patients who come to Turkey from abroad for treatment (referred to in the regulation as health tourists), and the agencies that act as intermediaries between patients and facilities.

What does the regulation cover?

The rules we discuss in this article concern the obligations of the organizations that provide this service, or act as intermediaries for it, more than they concern patients. The main points are as follows:

Integration with HealthTurkiye

Facilities and intermediary agencies working in health tourism must be integrated with the HealthTurkiye portal. HealthTurkiye is run by USHAS (International Health Services Inc.).

Authorization certificate and responsible staff

Facilities and intermediary agencies providing services in international health tourism must hold an authorization certificate; USHAS issues this certificate to intermediary agencies. Authorization certificates cannot be transferred to another organization. In addition, a staff member must be assigned as the person responsible for each health tourist.

Accreditation or certification depending on the type of facility

The regulation requires facilities to have accreditation or a certificate; which one is required depends on the type of facility. Accreditation means that an independent assessment has documented that an organization meets certain quality standards.

Complication insurance

The regulation makes complication insurance mandatory for surgical and interventional procedures performed on health tourists in an operating room setting. Complication insurance is insurance for complications (unwanted outcomes) that may develop after a procedure. According to the legal summaries we reviewed, it is the healthcare facility that must take out this insurance.

What is clear, and what could not be verified?

The regulation’s publication date and number, the repeal of the previous regulation and the main points listed above appear in the same way in more than one source. However, we could not verify some details while preparing this article:

• The exact dates of the transition periods: The dates we give below are based on news reports and legal summaries; at least one legal summary has the insurance and accreditation dates the other way around. We were not able to review the transitional provision in the official text ourselves.
• Whether hair transplants fall under the insurance provision: We could not verify whether hair transplants count as “surgical and interventional procedures performed in an operating room setting.” For this reason, we do not offer an interpretation on this point.
• Later amendments: In this article, we did not separately check whether the regulation has been amended since it was published.

We have left out other details that appeared in the press but could not be verified in more than one source. This article is for general information and is no substitute for a legal assessment; for an organization’s obligations, the official, current text of the regulation should be consulted.

The current situation in Turkey

According to the sources we reviewed, the regulation is in force in Turkey. Facilities and intermediary agencies that obtained certificates before the regulation took effect were given separate transition periods to comply with the new rules, to take out complication insurance and to obtain accreditation or certification.

Most of the news reports and legal summaries we reviewed give these periods as follows:

• 6 months to comply with the new rules
• 31 December 2025, for complication insurance
• 31 December 2026, for accreditation or certification

If these dates are correct, then as of 19 October 2026, when this article was written, the first two periods have already ended, while the period for accreditation or certification has not yet ended.

What does it mean if you are considering a hair transplant?

The regulation sets out the documents and conditions under which organizations serving patients from abroad must operate. If you are coming from abroad, these rules can give you a basis for concrete questions to ask before you decide. Whichever clinic you talk to, you can ask for clear and, if possible, written answers to the following questions:

• Which healthcare facility will the procedure take place in? Does the facility hold an international health tourism authorization certificate?
• Is the organization in contact with you the facility itself or an intermediary agency? If it is an intermediary agency, does it hold an authorization certificate in its own name?
• Does the facility have the accreditation or certificate required for its type?
• Will complication insurance be arranged for your procedure? If so, what does it cover and not cover, and how do you make a claim if there is a problem?
• Who is responsible for you during your stay in Turkey, and how can you reach them?
• How will follow-up work once you are back home, and will you be given written aftercare instructions?

Because authorization certificates cannot be transferred, it is worth checking whether the certificate you are shown is in the name of the organization you are dealing with.

The units in which hair transplants may be performed, and the conditions that apply, are governed by a separate regulation. We explain the September 2025 change to that regulation in our article on the change to the Regulation on Hair Transplant Units. We have also collected other questions you can ask when choosing a clinic in our article on questions to ask when choosing a clinic.

Certificates and insurance do not show whether a hair transplant is suitable for you. The doctor who examines you decides on suitability; results also vary from person to person. For general questions, see our frequently asked questions page.