Cooperation in the field of health takes its commencement from the Extraordinary Summit of the Council of Heads of State of the OTS held on 10 April 2020 on the theme of “Solidarity and Cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic”.

As stipulated in the adopted Baku Declaration of the Extraordinary Video Summit of the OTS, the Parties have agreed to establish close interaction among the Ministries of Health of the Member States, to share best practices, assist each other on substantive subjects regarding the pandemic.

Based on this instruction, the Secretariat and Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan representing the Chairman-in-Office of the OTS have organized the 1st Video-Conference Meeting of the Ministers of Health of the Member and Observer States of the Turkic Council on 28 April 2020.

Ministers of Health discussed the ways of implementing the decisions made during the Extraordinary Summit and emphasized the significance of cooperation among the Member and Observer States in the fight against COVID-19 and the post-pandemic period within the framework of the OTS.

During this meeting, it was decided to set up Health Coordination Committee and Health Scientific Group to exchange information and experience and best practices in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment of dangerous infections, monitoring, epidemiological studies, and scientific research among the Member and Observer States.

As a result of the Ministerial Meeting, the Parties have established the Health Coordination Committee responsible for coordinating all health cooperation issues among the Parties. Within the Coordination Committee, there is also a “Health Scientific Group” consisting of leading scientists, specialists, and experts to expand coordination in the fight against COVID-19 and other dangerous infections and a “Supply Chain Group” to provide each other with needed pharmaceutical products and medical equipment.

Under this cooperation framework, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Türkiye organized the first face-to-face Vaccine Workshop of the Health Scientific Group on 24-27 August 2020 in İzmir, where Türkiye shared its experience in vaccine development and combatting the pandemic.

The Ministers of Health of the Member and Observer States came together in Istanbul on 30 October 2020 for the 4th Meeting of the Health Scientific Group and adopted the Joint Declaration in which the importance of international cooperation in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and concerted actions to prevent its further transmission was underlined. They also praised the coordination and cooperation efforts of the Turkic Council as an example of institutionalized sub-regional collaboration focusing on the ways to foster solidarity in the interest of the people.

The Ministers underscored the importance of maintaining the achieved level of cooperation, carrying it further with new concrete projects, as well as preparing the OTS’s Pandemic Action Plan.

Since the establishment of this cooperation, the Secretariat have organized 8 meetings of the Health Scientific Group and 4 meetings of the Supply Chain Group where the parties discussed the pressing issues related to COVID-19 and other health priorities of the Member States and exchanged their knowledge with their colleagues.

Delegations of the Member States of the OTS also observed the field practices on-site during the Emergency Health Preparedness Exercise held in Izmir on 16-17 December 2021 organized by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Türkiye in partnership with the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It is planned to organize a similar joint training program for the medical professionals of the Member and Observer States of the OTS in the future.

In the framework of this cooperation, the Secretariat together with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Türkiye has organized the second face-to-face training program for strengthening the laboratory systems and developing the professional capacities of the laboratory personnel of the Member and Observer States of the OTS on 14-27 March 2022 in Ankara.

Turkic Medical World Congress of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was held in Istanbul on 30-31 October 2022 with the participation of H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye.

Panel discussions and sessions were held on the first day of the World Turkic Medical Congress, the main theme of which was “Transforming Global Health in the Post-Pandemic Period.” The 2nd Meeting of the Ministers of Health was held on the margins of the Turkic Medical World Congress on 31 October 2022 Istanbul.

The Secretary-General and the Ministers signed the “Joint Declaration of the 8th Turkic Medical World Congress of Turkic States and the Award Ceremony of “Tribute to the History of Medicine and Common Legacy\" reflecting the results of the Ministerial meeting as well as the meeting of the scientists of the Member and Observer States of the OTS.

Among others, the Parties also agreed to strengthen collaboration on exploring possibilities of supplying medicines, medical equipment, and material needs of the Member States and assessment of the joint production and procurement possibilities in the fields of personal protective equipment, vaccines, medicines, medical devices and materials, and removing barriers against free movement of these supplies. The Parties agreed to hold the next meeting of the Ministers of Health and Turkic Medical World Congress in Samarkand in 2023. At the end of the program, the Award Ceremony of “Tribute to the History of Medicine and Common Legacy” was held and H.E. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented awards to Secretary General Amreyev and to the Health Ministers of the OTS for their outstanding work during and afterwards the pandemic process and significant contributions to the cooperation between the Turkic States.

The 3rd meeting of the Minsters of Health of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and 2nd Turkic Medical World Congress of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) were held on 16 August 2023 in Samarkand. At the meeting, the Ministers emphasized the importance of the establishment of a joint research and development group in the field of health, the establishment of "TURKTRANSPLANT", the development of "Turkic Pharmacopoeia", which would ensure the mutual recognition of medicines and the joint production of pharmaceutical products, the promotion of medical tourism, the activation of the supply chain group, the establishment of a "Joint Emergency Disaster Response Team", etc.

The views on the future cooperation in the development of the healthcare system within the OTS region were included in the "Joint Declaration of the 3rd OTS Ministerial Meeting on Health" signed by the Ministers of Health on August 16, 2023.

The Action Plan for the implementation of the MoU on cooperation between the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and the European Office of the World Health Organization (WHO/Europe) for the term 2024-2025 was signed by Secretary General of the OTS Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev and the Regional Director of the WHO for Europe Dr. Hans Kluge on 28 October 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark.