Türkan Saylan

Life & Legacy

Türkan Saylan (13 December 1935 – 18 May 2009) was a Turkish physician, dermatologist, professor, academic, writer, public-health campaigner and civil-society activist. A professor of dermatology at Istanbul University, she became a prominent figure in Turkey's campaign against leprosy and later devoted much of her work to expanding educational opportunities, particularly for girls and students from low-income families.
Saylan began working against leprosy in 1976 and founded the Turkish Leprosy Relief Association. She later directed Istanbul University's Leprosy Research and Application Center and served for 21 years as the voluntary chief physician of the Istanbul Leprosy Hospital. She also served as a consultant to the World Health Organization on leprosy until 2006.
Her approach to leprosy emphasized both medical treatment and social rehabilitation. Programs associated with her work addressed disability, social exclusion and poverty, providing patients with services including protective footwear and eyewear, social and economic rehabilitation and educational support for their children.
In 1989, Saylan co-founded the Association for the Support of Contemporary Living (Çağdaş Yaşamı Destekleme Derneği, ÇYDD), which developed scholarship and education programs for students throughout Turkey. By 2007, the organization had helped approximately 25,000 girls continue to secondary education and had provided scholarships to approximately 20,000 university students.