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Viewing cable 05ANKARA7097, TURKEY'S MOH OPTIMISTIC ABOUT NEW

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
05ANKARA7097 2005-12-02 16:16 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Ankara
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 007097 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR JCHOE-GROVES, LERRION 
DEPT PASS USPTO FOR JURBAN AND EWU 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/CRUSNAK 
TREASURY FOR CHRIS PLANTIER 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD TBIO KIPR EFIN TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY'S MOH OPTIMISTIC ABOUT NEW 
RESPONSIBILITIES 
 
REF: A: ANKARA 6884 and previous 
 
     B: ANKARA 6818 and previous 
     C: ANKARA 6378 
 
This information is sensitive but unclassified.  Please 
protect accordingly. 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Turkish Health U/S Necdet Unuvar 
appeared optimistic about his ministry's new 
responsibilities after the MOH assumed many of the 
programs previously administered by Turkey's Social 
Security Commission (SSK).  The GOT views these reforms, 
and the costs involved with them, as necessary and 
manageable when weighed against the increased social 
benefits they bring.  On the issue of pharmaceutical data 
exclusivity, Unuvar and his director generals maintained 
their view that Turkey has done more than required on 
this issue but pledged diligence when reviewing the final 
generic applications to ensure that Turkish law is 
followed to the letter.  End summary. 
 
-------------------- 
NEW RESPONSIBILITIES 
-------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) According to Turkish Health U/S Necdet Unuvar, 
the GOT supports social security reform not because of 
IMF requirements but because Turkey needs it.  The 
Ministry hopes that the legislation will enable it to 
establish an institutional identity and views its passage 
in the Parliament as a top priority for January after the 
budget is passed by December 31. 
 
3. (SBU) Unuvar said that the draft legislation would 
give MOH most of the responsibilities for health issues 
formerly held by the Social Security Commission (SSK) and 
would establish a universal health insurance system. 
This would benefit poorer Turkish citizens by providing 
them more options for their healthcare in areas closer to 
their homes.  Additionally, with this reform the Ministry 
hopes to invest in its physical infrastructure, personnel 
and equipment. 
 
4. (SBU) Contrary to media claims, Unuvar does not 
believe that the MOH's absorption of the SSK hospitals 
will create an undue and unmanageable burden on the 
Ministry's budget.  He acknowledged that the new 
pharmaceutical program, in which patients have access to 
a wider array of medication, has raised the government's 
costs by USD 400 - 500 million.  However, according to 
Unuvar, the GOT anticipated this increase and can absorb 
it within the present budget.  (Note: Our understanding 
from other sources is that these were serious overruns, 
that had to be compensated from other, non-Health 
components of the budget or from the revenue side. End 
Note.) He argued that the cost of pharmaceutical spending 
is not high in comparison to the social benefit it 
provides.  He noted that finding ways to reduce 
pharmaceutical spending is not the MOH's responsibility, 
he added, but falls on the reimbursement agencies.  These 
agencies are striving to find the highest quality 
pharmaceuticals for the most reasonable price, he said. 
 
5. (SBU) On the long-mooted creation of Turkish agencies 
analogous to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and 
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Unuvar said that 
an agency similar to the CDC had been created by decree 
at approximately the same time as the CDC (1928), but 
that its responsibilities need to be strengthened.  With 
regards to the FDA, the GOT wants to create an agency 
that functions similarly to the FDA but is closer to the 
European model and excludes food oversight.  He confirmed 
that there were plans to move in this direction, but did 
not provide a clear timeline. 
 
------------------------- 
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION 
------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) The U/S emphasized the GOT's commitment to 
international assistance and cooperation.  The Ministry 
particularly values its participation in the World Health 
Organization.  The MOH worked quickly to contain the 
recent outbreak of bird flu in its southwestern region 
(ref A) and would be prepared to work with other 
countries closely in the event of a global bird flu 
outbreak.  He noted that along with the United States 
Turkey was the first to respond and has contributed a 
large amount of monetary assistance and personnel and 
supplies to the relief effort in Pakistan (ref B), 
particularly for health care.  Finally, Turkey values its 
role in the Middle East Cancer Consortium. 
 
---------------- 
DATA EXCLUSIVITY 
---------------- 
 
7.  (SBU)  Econ/C raised Turkey's TRIPS obligations to 
provide data exclusivity for pharmaceutical products, 
saying that while we recognized progress we were 
particularly concerned about recent applications by 
generic producers to market patented drugs in Turkey (ref 
C).  Unuvar, allowing Deputy Under Secretary Orhan 
Gumrukcuoglu to speak, argued that Turkey has made great 
strides in the area of data exclusivity that should be 
recognized.  He added that according to Turkey's view of 
TRIPS article 39/3, developing countries (among which he 
apparently includes Turkey) were not given a deadline for 
this implementation.  He said that Turkey's current data 
exclusivity regulations resulted not from their 
obligations under TRIPS but from their commitments under 
the European Customs Union. 
 
8. (SBU) Speaking about the new pharmaceutical molecules 
for which generic applications were filed prior to 
January 1, 2005, Gumrukcuoglu stated that the MOH cannot 
ignore these generic applications.  Gumrukcuoglu 
confirmed there were currently 23 applications for 
molecules on which foreign countries held patents in 
European Union countries.  However, the fact that 
applications have been filed does not mean that they will 
automatically receive approval.  Gumrukcuoglu added that 
with regards to EU accession, Turkey finds itself in a 
more difficult situation than new EU members such as 
Poland, Greece and the Czech Republic.  These countries, 
because they had no customs union with the EU, also had 
no previous obligations for data exclusivity for which 
the could be "punished."  Econ Counselor encouraged them 
to follow the letter of the Turkish law (which prevents 
generic companies from relying on the files of products 
that have not yet been licensed on the Turkish market). 
Unuvar reiterated the MOH's desire to uphold Turkish law 
and pledged their diligence in reviewing the generic 
applications. 
 
----------------------------- 
SAME STORY BUT STILL OPTIMISM 
----------------------------- 
 
9. (SBU) Comment:  Especially on the issue of data 
exclusivity, the MOH representatives repeated their 
normal adage of being under-appreciated for what they 
have done while receiving international pressure to do 
more than was expected from similar countries at the same 
time in their EU accessions.  U/S Unuvar's demeanor, 
though, provides some reason for optimism as he tried to 
assure us that, although the GOT must review these 
applications under Turkish law, the GOT would ensure that 
only those who met the Turkish standards -- if any -- 
would be approved.  While the review process will most 
likely take much longer (it has already taken eleven 
months), we hope that by registering our concern, in 
addition to the objections raised by the EU and by the 
research-based companies, the MOH will understand the 
broader implications of these last few applications.  End 
comment. 
MCELDOWNEY