Economic, Legal and Policy Studies on Health

Contributors

Çetin Arslan

Professor Criminal and Criminal Procedure Law Department, Faculty of Law, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0001-7930-3781; cetinarslan@hacettepe.edu.tr.

Eda Yeşil Balıkçıoğlu

Assistant Professor, Department of Public Finance, Kırıkkale University, Kırıkkale/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0002-2525-6745; edabalikcioglu@kku.edu.tr

Ayşe Nur Songür Bozdağ

Research Assistant, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, İzmir Katip Çelebi University, İzmir/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0001-6412-8650; aysenur.songur.bozdag@ikcu.edu.tr

Kıvılcım Ceren Büken

Ph.D. Student, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0002-1431-556X; kivilcimbuken@hacettepe.edu.tr

Nüket Örnek Büken

Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0001-9166-6569; buken@hacettepe.edu.tr

Burcu G. Özcan Büyüktanır

Associate Professor, Department of Civil Law, Faculty of Law, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 000-0003-3638-1637; bgozcan@hacettepe.edu.tr

Funda Pınar Çakıroğlu

Professor, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ankara University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0003-2324-6874; scakir64@hotmail.com

Oytun Canyaş

Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0003-1991-5641; oytuncanyas@gmail.com

Orcid: 0000-0003-2616-6853; eylulerdem@hacettepe.edu.tr

Ezgi Aygün Eşitli

Associate Professor, Criminal and Criminal Procedure Law Department, Faculty of Law, Başkent University Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: https: 0000-0002-5413-2485; aygun.ezgi@gmail.com

Fatma Didem Sevgili Gencay

Associate Professor, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Hacettepe University Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0001-8927-8874; didemsevgili@hacettepe.edu.tr

Yiğit İltaş

Ph.D., Criminal and Criminal Procedure Law Department, Faculty of Law, Cukurova University, Adana/Turkey

Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5728-0902; yigitiltas@gmail.com

Pelin Varol İyidoğan

Professor, Department of Public Finance, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0002-4632-9130; pelinv@hacettepe.edu.tr

Orhan Emre Konuralp

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Procedure, Enforcement and Insolvency Law, Faculty of Law, Istanbul Aydin University, Istanbul/Turkey

Orchid: 0000-0002-0376-0692; orhanemrekonuralp@aydin.edu.tr

Sezgin Mercan

Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations; Baskent University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0001-9847-4922; mercan@baskent.edu.tr

Selin Özden Merhaci

Ph.D. Lecturer, Department of Comparative Law, Faculty of Law, Ankara University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0002-8233-1166; sozden@law.ankara.edu.tr

Orcid: 0000-0003-1939-1235; n.nurcali@gmail.com

Dila Okyar

Ph.D., Research Assistant, Department of Civil Law, Faculty of Law, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0002-7829-2133; dila.okyar.law@gmail.com

Deniz Odabaş

Professor, Medical Doctor, Public Health Specialist, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0002-4877-0122; caliskan@medicine.ankara.edu.tr

Sibel Özcan

Ph.D., Research Assistant, Department of Public Finance, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0003-3565-4525; sibel.ozcan@hacettepe.edu.tr

Ezgi Sevinçhan

Research Assistant, Department of Fiscal Law, Faculty of Law, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

sevinchanezgi@gmail.com

Azer Sumbas

Research Assistant, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0002-3024-7499; asumbas@ucdavis.edu, azersumbas@hacettepe.edu.tr

Ahu Sumbas

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0003-0944-4751; ahusumbas@yahoo.com

Orcid: 0000-0002-5710-9547; gamze@hacettepe.edu.tr

Nazmiye Tekdemir

Research Assistant, Department of Public Finance, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Ayşe Nil Tosun

Associate Professor, Department of Public Finance, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0001-5161-1037; nilt@hacettepe.edu.tr

Taner Turan

Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Çukurova University, Adana/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0003-3012-340X; tturan@cu.edu.tr

Sinem Yalçın

Ph.D., Principal Auditor, Turkish Court of Accounts, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0002-8970-771X; sinemyalcin@sayistay.gov.tr

Ayça Zorluoğlu Yılmaz

Ph.D., Research Assistant, Civil Law Department, Faculty of Law, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0001-7250-4097; azorluoglu@hacettepe.edu.tr, aycazorluoglu@gmail.com

H. Hakan Yılmaz

Professor, Department of Public Finance, Ankara University, Ankara/Turkey

Orcid: 0000-0003-3046-3236; hhyilmaz@politics.ankara.edu.tr

E. Neval YILMAZ

MD, PhD, LLM, Lawyer, Ankara Bar Association, General and Vascular Surgeon

Orcid: 0000-0003-2310-0269, info@nevalyilmaz.av.tr

Orcid: 0000-0002-8343-5602; moyurdakul@gmail.com

An Introduction: Economic, Legal and Policy Studies on Health: A Social Science Perspective to Health Studies in Turkey

Over the last decades, our understanding of the relationship between social/human sciences and natural sciences has been transformed by illustrating that they are relational and interrelated areas rather than separated realms of knowledge. It is therefore we believe that this attempt of combining health studies with the perspectives of socials sciences provides an overview of this dynamic and growing field.

Health is considered one of the fundamental human rights. The current global pandemic, Covid-19, explicitly reminds us of the fact that this right cannot be separated from the economic, legal, and political developments and policies. Indeed, the protection of the right to health induces some notable economic and political impacts both at the individual and social levels. In this regard, this book moves from the idea that a comprehensive approach to health studies should have a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary perspective. Moreover, it is argued that a critical approach to health studies with an eye of social sciences, particularly benefited from the fields of economics, law, and politics, contributes to the literature on health studies. Thus, this edited book is organized under seven thematic parts as “Economic and Public Policy Perspective in the Health Sector”, “The Impact of Europeanization in Health Law and Policy”, “Gender in Health Policies and Law”, “Legal and Public Policy Perspective to Vaccination Application”, “Reflections of Covid-19 in Law and Economics”, “Current Thematic Discussions in Health Studies”, and “Noticeable Issues in Health Law”. In this introduction chapter, we present a brief introduction of each part of this book and how each chapter in a part engages in dialogue with others.

Each chapter in these parts aims to address the current critical debates in the literature of health studies regarding the issues in Turkey. The chapters, therefore, focus on the reflections of Covid-19 in law and economics, the efficiency and effectiveness of health sectors, the impacts of gender equality policies and ←15 | 16→gender-sensitive taxation to improve women’s health, the role of the market, and other political actors in shaping health policies, the impacts of legal regulations and policy implementation on health outcomes as well as the studies examining the existing laws and their impacts on society and existing health system. The chapters also do not claim to be comprehensive, partly because there is not the space to include everything and partly because the interaction of social sciences and health studies is still being rediscovered. It is also important to remember that the aim of this book is to contribute to the literature by illustrating discussions and cases from Turkey.

Two chapters in Part II then provide the analysis of the Europeanization and its policy impacts during the pandemic Covid-19 and on Turkey. “Re-thinking Health Law and Politics in Turkey: A Dynamic Perspective from the Implementation of the EU Acquis” is written by Azer Sumbas. Sumbas considers Europeanization in the context of applying the Acquis in the Member States and candidate states focusing particularly on Turkey. By doing this, she intends to provide an alternative discussion on health law and politics in Turkey via focusing on how Turkey fulfils its responsibilities by underlining the European Commission Reports, EU Health Policy papers, Turkey’s Health Transformation Programme, ←16 | 17→and National Action Plan. In the second chapter, entitled “Europeanization of Health Policies after Covid-19: Politicization, Governance and Coordination”, Sezgin Mercan focuses on the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the EU and Turkey-EU relations by referring to Europeanization, governance, politicization and coordination. Mercan states that Covid-19 caused a necessity for burden-sharing at the EU level which triggered Europeanization and politicization effect as well as disagreements on a subject result in producing high politicization. In this framework, he concludes that high politicization of health to Covid-19 has increased EU level cooperation and Europeanization of it.

Three chapters in Part IV discuss the issue of vaccination from legal and public policy perspectives. The leading chapter, entitled “To Be Vaccinated or Not? An Assessment on the Vaccination Attitude Profile in Turkey” is written by Nazmiye Tekdemir & Pelin Varol İyidoğan. Tekdemir & Varol İyidoğan conduct ←17 | 18→a survey with 838 people including different stakeholders in 12 NUTS regions to reflect different characteristics and dynamics. According to the findings from Independent Groups T-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure, they conclude that age and education level have a significant effect on attitude to vaccination in the study group. On the other hand, they find no evidence supporting a significant gender effect. In the following chapter, entitled “Compulsory Vaccination Application in Turkish Legal System”, Yiğit İltaş discusses the relationship between preventive health services and vaccination. İltaş explains compulsory vaccination practices and the perspective of Turkish Legal System. Last chapter of the Part IV is “Informed Consent in Pandemic Processes Within the Scope of the Crime of Experimentation and Trial on Human Being” which is authored by Ezgi Aygün Eşitli. While Eşitli is explaining the terms of informed consent, criminal experimentation, and trial, she tries to approach the issue of the informed consent in pandemic process in order to provide an analysis of problemed areas in the time of pandemic. In this context, she scrunitizes the possibilities of using off-label drugs on the patient without a duly received consent during pandemic. She also discusses whether the public health precedes the patient’s consent according to General Public Health Law.

Part V consists of four chapters which aim to exhibit the reflections of Covid-19 in the fields of law and economics. The first chapter of the part is “The Effect of Health Programs and Expenditures on Credit Rating under Pandemic Era” which belongs to Eda Yeşil Balıkçıoğlu & H. Hakan Yılmaz. They aim to empirically examine the impact of health expenditures together with other determinants on credit scores within a comparative framework for Covid-19 process. According to the findings from ordered probit model, Yeşil Balıkçıoğlu & Yılmaz conclude that public health expenditure has a significant effect on the credit ratings while the impact of Covid-19 period has not appeared yet. They also provide a brief evaluation on Turkey’s public health expenditures and debts due to the pandemic process. Çetin Arslan & Eylül Erdem’s study, that is “The Evaluation of the Measures Taken Within the Scope of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Turkey in terms of Misdemeanor and Ciriminal Law”, is the second chapter of this part. Arslan & Erdem examine the legal framework of the measures taken within the scope of combating the COVID-19 epidemic in Turkish criminal law. They evaluate the consequences of not complying with the measures taken in combating the Covid-19 epidemic in terms of criminal law and misdemeanor law provisions since they consider this field of study as a sub-discipline of criminal law. The third chapter in Part V, entitled “A Comparatie Analysis of Taxation Practices during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Turkey and Selected OECD Countries” is written by Ayşe Nil Tosun, Oytun Canyaş & Necati Nurcalı. Their ←18 | 19→study comparatively investigates how taxation policies were used in Turkey and selected OECD countries to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic with minimum damage. They point out that Turkey has provided important conveniences to taxpayers regarding tax policies during the pandemic process. On the other hand, they identify the deficiencies in Turkey’s tax dimensional struggle in the Covid -19 pandemic, that are the avoidance of practices requiring cash flow towards taxpayers and its tendency toward practices that may disrupt the principle of tax equality. Fatma Didem Sevgili Gencay scrunitizes the physicians’ working conditions before and during the pandemic regarding the the continuity principle of public service in the chapter of “Continuity Principle of Public Service and the Working Conditions of Physicians in Turkey (before and during pandemic)”. Sevgili Gencay demostrates that healthcare workers have worked in difficult and dangerous conditions in Covid-19 pandemic illegally imposed by the administration (such as the restrictions on leave, resigning, and retirement rights of healthcare workers) who showed a blatant disregard of their rights. In this sense, she points out that the administration should be held liable for not taking the necessary precautions to preserve and protect the health of these employees.