Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services Published.

The Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services (“Regulation”) entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated November 12, 2025.

The Regulation redefines the standards for promotion and information in the field of health services with the aim of protecting patient safety, patient rights, and public health at the highest level. The Regulation provides a new framework for promotion activities carried out by health professionals, private health institutions, and international health tourism intermediary institutions in terms of ethics, accurate information, and patient rights. The arrangements introduced by the Regulation are summarized below under different headings.

1. Purpose and Scope of the Regulation

The purpose of the Regulation is to determine the basic principles, criteria, and prohibitions regarding promotional and informational activities in healthcare services, to supervise these activities, and to regulate sanctions.

In this context, the Regulation will apply to the following three main groups:

•    Healthcare professionals (physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, opticians, etc.)

•    Private healthcare institutions

•    International health tourism intermediary institutions

2. Fundamental Prohibitions and Principles (Article 5)

The most critical principle highlighted in the new regulation is the strict prohibition of implicit or explicit advertising in healthcare services.

Within this framework, the practices prohibited and permitted by the Regulation are summarized below:

Prohibited Practices

•    Sharing sponsored or paid content (including social media)

•    Promotion through testimonials, satisfaction statements, or patient reviews

•    Promotion of scientifically unproven methods

•    Misleading visuals, exaggerated statements, comparisons

•    Misrepresentation of titles / display of expertise based on certificates

•    Direct patient contact, referral via SMS/email

•   Fee, campaign, discount, promotion announcement

Permitted Practices

•    Sharing content for informational purposes only

•    Sharing information such as primary and secondary specialties, contact details, and working hours

•    Sharing content that protects and improves health

•    Publishing explanations that are scientifically accurate and non-misleading

3. New Rules for the Use of Visual Content (Article 7)

One of the most detailed sections of the regulation is the new visual usage regime. Some rules regarding visual usage are listed below.

Strict Rules for Visual Content

• Before-and-after photos must be taken under the same environmental and technical conditions.

•    The date information will be added to both the processing and the image.

•    No makeup, filters, or technical modifications will apply to the images.

•    Images may only be shared by healthcare professionals/healthcare facilities.

•    Shares will be closed to user interactions (comments, likes, etc.).

Patient Images

•    Explicit consent must be obtained using the Consent Form in Appendix 1.

•    Patients may withdraw their consent to share their content at any time.

•    No discounts, gifts, or payments may be offered in exchange for consent.

Absolute Prohibitions

•    Images of patients during medical procedures, interventions, or surgeries cannot be shared.

•    Visual content of private body parts that violates general moral standards cannot be shared.

•    Misleading, exaggerated, or exploitative use of visual content

4. Special Rules for International Health Tourism (Article 8)

The Regulation includes special arrangements in its provisions relating to international health tourism.

Freedom of Sponsored Content for Abroad

•    Advertisements may only be made through a separate account/platform for abroad.

•    Sponsored content will be free in official languages except Turkish.

•    The target audience cannot be selected within Türkiye; automatic targeting will be disabled.

Patient Stories and Comments

•    Stories, comments, and expressions of gratitude may be shared provided they are intended for abroad and patient consent is obtained.

•    This option will be completely prohibited in domestic promotions in Türkiye.

HealthTürkiye Logo Obligation

•    The HealthTürkiye logo will be used in all promotional media.

Discount/Campaign Announcements

•    Discounts, campaigns, and competitive price announcements may only be published on accounts targeting international health tourism.

Prohibited Area

•    The promotion of medical procedures/treatments that are not approved for use in Türkiye is absolutely prohibited.

5. Supervision Mechanism

The Regulation also introduces a supervision mechanism and some sanctions. Accordingly;

•    A Provincial Evaluation Commission for Health Information and Promotion Activities will be established in provinces to assess the compliance of promotion and information activities with the provisions of the Regulation and other relevant legislation.

•    Notification files regarding promotional and informational activities will be evaluated and decided upon within a maximum of forty-five days from the date they are submitted to the commissions.

•    The General Directorate of Health Services and provincial health directorates will regularly scan promotional and informational activities.

6. Sanctions

Various sanctions may also be imposed on those found to have engaged in promotional and informational activities in violation of the provisions of the Regulation:

•          Administrative sanctions such as warnings, fines, suspension of activities, suspension of licenses, and revocation of authorization certificates, which may be imposed in accordance with Article 11/5 of the Health Services Fundamental Law,

•    In the event of advertising for the procurement of organs/tissues in exchange for interest, a criminal complaint may be filed under the Turkish Criminal Law (“TCL”),

•          Reporting persons who carry out unauthorized, unlicensed, or unpermitted activities to the Ministry of Trade or Provincial Directorates of Trade for evaluation by the Advertising Board within the framework of Law No. 6502 regarding their advertising and information activities, and filing a criminal complaint under the Turkish Criminal Law (“TCL”),

•          Penalties to be imposed in case of non-compliance with the provisions of the Personal Data Protection Law and the Personal Health Data Regulation

•    Submitting an application to block access to content that endangers human health or negatively affects the diagnosis and treatment process in health-related promotions and information provided through social media and websites.

7. Conclusion and Evaluations

The Regulation introduces a compliance framework that fundamentally transforms digital visibility, patient communication, and social media use for healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals. With the Regulation, a more restrictive approach is adopted for national promotions, while activities targeting international health tourism are subject to a flexible regime with separate platforms, different languages, and clear target audience distinctions. In this context, even sharing incorrect content can lead to consequences ranging from administrative sanctions to access restrictions. Thus, it is critically important for healthcare institutions to restructure their promotional processes and update their internal policies and consent mechanisms. Therefore, it is of great importance for all actors providing healthcare services to proactively address both content production and digital communication strategies from a compliance perspective in this new era.