IZMIR, A CITY WHICH ITS PAST HOLDS A MIRROR TO ITS FUTURE;
THERE IS HEALTH IN ITS HISTORY
“The city where death didn’t tread” – so it is written in Bergama Asclepius. There is ultimate care for the patients hoping to get well. Physical and spiritual therapies work hand in hand. It is no surprise to see a claim like this, as the medicine, which is a life science, takes its roots from where the life starts, so that this saying started to be used as praise for good health practices.
İzmir has always been a center of health from the distant past to our day. In fact the Rod of Asclepius handed over by Galen of Pergamon is still the symbol of medicine today. Asclepius, the first hospital in the history, is here. Even the nomad tribes of the past, when choosing a place to live, would hang a piece of meat on a tree and watch how long would it take for it to rot and then decide to settle or not. The fact that İzmir was selected as a healing place in the past forces us to think about its natural properties that contributed to this selection. As a matter of fact, with its mild climate, healing waters, hot springs (Balçova Thermal today, Agemmemnon hot springs in the past), healing herbs, marine products and its nature, İzmir deserves its health center title. İzmir is a city preferred by people who care about their health, who want to live a comfortable life, free of stress. By being a city conveniently available for many pilot healthcare applications, İzmir has the lead in healthcare field. The innovative nature of İzmir also took the city to the forefront in the area of medicinal science where health meets technology, which is surgery. Universities and Educational Hospitals are centers where robotic surgery is being practiced.
With its easy access, relaxing nature, protecting its historical aura while also improving with technological advancements, İzmir is getting more and more popular among people who care about their health, and also offers top notch health care services with its universities and public and private hospitals.
There is a saying in medicine: “We don't treat sickness, we treat patients.” İzmir is a city, with its cosmopolitan structure, that has an understanding view of differences. And health care is also affected from this point of view. With humanitarian tolerance, it is the patient who receives the case, not the sickness. The landscape of İzmir is health and everybody tries to contribute to this landscape hand in hand.
It is because of this that healthy eating, jogging, serenity, and caring for humanity and living the joy as a way of existence are crystallized in İzmir. It is because of this İzmir is said to be the pearl of Aegean. It is because of this, İzmir is the final destination of those who travel the seven seas for “a drop of nectar”. It is because of this people who are healed here are coming back for a vacation with plenty of oxygen, plenty of sunshine, and plenty of refreshing sea air. Every vacation in İzmir is a healthy vacation, because all vacationists collect health in their suitcases and when it is over, they carry away the health they gathered with them. No customs on health!
You can’t see it when you’re in it. You only realize it when it is away. İzmir is like a body part that doesn’t ache. You take it for granted. It is invisible like health itself. The pain starts when you are away. How can a place become a part of your body, you can’t figure it out. You understand when you are back, when the sea air fills your lungs, when the warm air softly caresses your face. If getting lost is a disease, you never get lost in İzmir, as all roads lead to the sea. And sea is health…
Healthy İzmir for everyone…