Important Changes to Digital Promotion and Advertising Rules in Healthcare
With the new regulation that came into force in 2025, some important changes were made to promotional and informational activities in the healthcare field. While these changes bring flexibility particularly on topics such as sharing before-and-after images and sponsored health tourism advertising directed abroad, the general framework of existing rules continues to be preserved.
Before-and-After Image Sharing Is Now Possible Under Certain Conditions
With Article 7 of the new regulation, sharing before-and-after images — long banned in the healthcare field — has now become possible under certain conditions.
Images must clearly show the procedure date and the shooting date, must be taken under the same setting and lighting conditions, and no filter or makeup may be used.
The following statement must be included in the post:
"Results may vary from person to person in any surgical or interventional procedure. It is recommended that you get detailed advice from your physician before the procedure."
In addition, likes, comments, and reshare features must be disabled on these images, and they must not be published as sponsored ads. An explicit consent form (Annex-1) must be obtained in order to use the patient's image, and privacy and KVKK (Turkish Data Protection Law) rules must be fully complied with.
A New Sponsored Advertising Era in Health Tourism Promotion
With Article 8 of the new regulation, organizations operating in the field of international health tourism are now granted the right to run sponsored advertisements directed abroad. These ads may only be made in languages other than Turkish, and the HealthTürkiye logo must appear in every promotion.
Targeting must cover only foreign countries; advertising directed at people living in Türkiye is prohibited. Patient stories and testimonials may be shared, but explicit consent must be obtained for this, and sharing must be done within the framework of privacy and ethical rules.
Compliance Guide for Clinics and Doctors: What Should They Pay Attention To?
The new regulation defines in detail how healthcare institutions and physicians can produce content in digital media. Websites, social media accounts, and blogs must now be used for informational purposes, not promotion. Content must be based on scientific grounds, and misleading or manipulative statements toward the public must be avoided.
Prohibited promotional elements include: campaigns, discounts, raffles, brand or product emphasis, comparisons with competitors, and patient referrals. Filters, exaggerated claims, or unauthorized "before-and-after" comparisons may not appear in visual content.
Compliance with patient privacy, KVKK provisions, and the Regulation on Personal Health Data is mandatory in all posts. Information or images that could allow patient identification may not be used without obtaining explicit consent from the patient.
Content that violates the legislation may result in access blocks, administrative fines, or disciplinary sanctions. For this reason, the most accurate approach for clinics is to produce scientifically proven, educational, and ethical content, and to follow a regular but controlled social media sharing strategy.
Creating a short "legal compliance checklist" before every post minimizes risks and protects institutional reputation.
Conclusion
The regulations made in 2025 placed digital promotional activities in the healthcare field within a controlled framework rather than banning them entirely. Clinics and physicians can now share before-and-after images by following certain rules, and within the scope of health tourism, they can prepare sponsored advertisements directed abroad.
In every post, ethical boundaries, patient privacy, and legal obligations must be kept at the forefront. The new regulation is launching an era that strengthens the culture of transparency, trust, and responsibility in health communication.
Source: Official Gazette