RECOVERY STAGE

The provision of quality health services to the population is always given great importance in President Aliyev's decrees on accelerating the social and economic development of the country. A number of measures have been taken to address problems in this sector and a reorganization of the management and logistical systems is under way. At the same time, the Heydar Aliyev Fund offers significant assistance to the impoverished strata of the population. By decree of the health minister, all medical services at state-owned medical facilities were made free from 1 February 2008.

We discussed this pressing issue in an interview with Honorary Doctor Faxraddin Cavadov, doctor of medical science and chief doctor at the United Oil Workers Hospital.

-Yes, free medical care is first and foremost an indicator of the economic prosperity of the nation, its material well-being and ability to demonstrate its care and attention towards its people. Every citizen of Azerbaijan should be protected, and the state should guarantee their social protection. But it has to be said that only a few sectors of the economy can guarantee full-scale financing of the high-tech medical services of the health care system for their employees. At present, one of the flagships of the Azerbaijani economy is the State Oil Company, which guarantees free medical services for more than 70,000 people working in the oil sector. We have to bear in mind that Azerbaijan, a country with a transitional economy, is in the process of introducing a new health care system, which will certainly require a staged development. This is why, back in 2000, when I was appointed chief doctor, our hospital issued a directive cancelling fees for all medical services and we decided to start providing medical services for the general public. There were many reasons for these decisions. First, our hospital has always been relatively well equipped with modern medical and diagnostic equipment and has never experienced shortages of highly-qualified staff.  This is why many patients sought qualified medical care in our hospital. Guided by the edict of national leader Heydar Aliyev on the protection of the nation's health and by relevant articles in the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and taking into account the social and economic circumstances of the population, the medical council of the Oil Workers Hospital decided, back in 2000, to introduce a system of provision of medical services to the general public. The only charges collected were for the diagnostic services of the utilities and laboratory. This system proved effective and remains operational today. For example, together with free medical care, a model of paid medical services was also introduced. Other no less important factors influencing our decision were our goals to improve the level of equipment and to lay a foundation for the development of other departments in our hospital.

There is another model for the provision of paid medical services in the civilized world - health insurance. Given the strong material and staffing potential of the hospital, insurance companies transfer money for services provided on the basis of an agreement on the provision of qualified medical care to policy holders. It was no accident that, in December 2007, the country's president issued a directive on the creation of a State Agency for mandatory medical insurance under the aegis of the Council of Ministers. This was intended to improve the management of the health care system and develop modern mechanisms of health care.

Another widely used financial model in the health sector is that of self-sustainment. We adopted this model in 2005, effectively as soon as the heart surgery department, which is entirely self-sustaining, was opened in our hospital. This enables us to use a more flexible approach to resolve various problems. For example, there are 50% discounts on all diagnostic methods for oil workers in that department. In addition, our appeal to the State Oil Company to fund the treatment of oil workers in the heart surgery department, so that patients could be treated free of charge, was accepted with understanding. Despite the high cost of heart surgery, we are now discussing the possibility of treating oil workers for free. This fact once again proves that, today, the United Oil Workers Hospital has all the necessary equipment and resources; this was made possible by the existence of quite profitable, self-sustaining departments at the hospital.

-And how about the regions where diagnostic centres have already been built and are functioning?

-President Ilham Aliyev's social policy aims to provide social benefits to the population in all areas, including the health care sector. For example, in the "State Programme for Social and Economic Development of the Regions," the head of state instructed the State Oil Company to build medical diagnostic centres in 10 regions of the country. It is notable that later, President Putin issued a similar decree. I have to say that, a couple of years ago, when the project to develop medical diagnostic centres in the provinces was under consideration, the head of state reached the conclusion that services in those centres had to be free of charge.  The implementation of this project enables us to begin providing medical care to the most advanced modern standards.

At present, construction work is under way in Ganca, Qabala, Quba, Zaqatala and Qazax, and in Lankaran and Naxcivan the medical diagnostic centres are already functioning. One more was recently open in Ali Bayramli. Before the opening of these centres, much work was done to train their personnel. In addition, doctors from our hospital regularly tour the provinces. Because the Naxcivan Autonomous Republic is under blockade, we opened a heart surgery department there.  Using angiography equipment, our specialists performed 153 angiography procedures, 20 coronary stenting operations and 26 open-heart operations during these tours. For the first time in the country, our doctors performed cardiac bypass surgery under spinal analgesia (because of concomitant lung disease, general anaesthesia was impossible).  Our next tour will be to Ali Bayramli.

The development of this regional infrastructure will help us tackle the problem of providing quality services to patients residing in the various regions of the country. It plays a positive role in keeping the nation healthy. And this is one of the priorities of the social policy of the country's president.