12 May 2023 14:38

WHO assessed the work done on primary health care services in the Shamakhi district in cooperation with healthcare institutions

Zaur Aliyev, Chairman of the Board of the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance, Vugar Gurbanov, Executive Director of the Administration of Regional Medical Divisions (TABIB), and Dr. Hande Harmancı, the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Azerbaijan, visited the Shamakhi district to become familiar with the work done on primary health care and discuss the future cooperation of WHO with the country's healthcare institutions in this field.

During the visit, meetings were held at WHO's Shamakhi Training Center, Shamakhi Family Health Center (FHC), and the FHC located in the village of Gushchu. There was also an introduction on the healthcare services delivered through the mobile clinics deployed in the region as part of the WHO project. At the meetings, WHO experts and local healthcare workers shared their experiences in the field of primary health care in the region and exchanged views on the future development of this field.

At the end of the visit, a discussion took place with the participation of Tahir Mammadov, head of the Executive Power of the Shamakhi region, focusing on the prospects of future cooperation between the health facilities of the country and the WHO in the field of strengthening primary health care in Shamakhi and other regions.

It should be noted that WHO implemented the "Primary Health Care Demonstration" project in the Shamakhi district, as well as the Shamakhi Scholarship Program and other events with the participation of the sixth-year students of Azerbaijan Medical University. The purpose of this project and events is to develop an accessible, high quality, and comprehensive primary health care model in Shamakhi, to increase the knowledge and skills of medical workers, and to improve the capacity of the staff for primary health care.

The WHO Country Office has been working closely with local health partners to support the reforms implemented in Azerbaijan in recent years to strengthen the health system and achieve universal health coverage. In this regard, support for the strengthening of primary health care is one of WHO’s priorities in Azerbaijan.