LEGAL DIMENSION OF TRADITIONAL AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE PRACTICES IN TURKEY

Context and Aim: The World Health Organization defines traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) practices as “the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness”. This study aims to analyse the main legal regulations on TCM practices in Turkey. Methodology: The study is based on a systematic review and analysis of desk research and data in the literature. TCM practices were analysed by reviewing the literature screening in particular data of the Ministry of Health, the CAMbrella study which had been conducted by the European Union and the WHO Global Report on Traditional and Complementary Medicine 2019. The literature review was carried out in “Ulakbim Turkish Academic Network and Information Center”, “Google Scholar “. The research was made between September 2021 and October 2021, and 5 keywords were used: “traditional medicine”, “complementary medicine”, "integrative medicine", "alternative medicine" and "functional medicine". Findings: TCM practices in Turkey are based on the Supplementary Article 13 of the Law No. 1219 on the Practice of Medicine and Medical Arts, Article 9/c and Annex 11 of the Health Services Basic Law No. 3359, and the Presidential Decree No. 1. Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practices Regulation (“Regulation”), dated 2014, stipulates the TCM practices in 15 areas, including acupuncture, apitherapy, phytotherapy, hypnosis, leech, homeopathy, chiropractic, cupping, larva, mesotherapy, prolotherapy, osteopathy, ozone, reflexology, and music therapy. Although the regulation basically specified the qualifications of TCM practitioners, the minimum requirements of the practice centres, and in which cases TCM practice can be imply or not, the issues such as the obligation to informed consent regarding TCM practices, medical malpractice regarding TCM practices is not fully regulated. In this respect, it is required to make comprehensive and detailed regulations on these issues. Conclusion: TCM practices fill an important gap in terms of human health in areas that modern medicine cannot deal with. It is important to make the necessary legal regulations, especially to regulate informed consent; to define the care standards for medical malpractices regarding TCM practices, to strengthen the evidence base of TCM practices just like the conventional medicine practices.