Turkey becomes hub for tuberculosis patients


Turkish doctors' success in treating tuberculosis has made the country a favorite destination for foreign patients. Patients from over 100 countries visited Turkish hospitals for treatment, a Turkish doctor specialized in the treatment says.

The treatment success rate reached 90% for tuberculosis in Turkey, adding another dimension to Turkey's increasing visibility in the world as a health tourism hub.

Assistant professor Şeref Özkara from the University of Health Sciences in the capital Ankara says about 10% of their patients are foreigners. "We achieved development in the success of treatment. Patients from all around the world come here. Turkey also has the advantage of providing medicine for treatment as they have access to medicine only at the Turkish hospitals," he says.

Özkara says tuberculosis is not a disease that "people should be afraid of. Once the treatment is over, the disease does not emerge again," he says.