Media tour organized to Pirallahi Medical Center

02.05.2025, 14:15

On May 2, the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance (Agency) and the Administration of the Regional Medical Divisions (TƏBİB) organized a media tour to the Pirallahi Medical Center (Center). The purpose of the media tour was to familiarize representatives of the media and non-governmental organizations with the implementation of the mandatory health insurance system at the Center and to provide an opportunity for patients to observe the process of using the insurance system.

The Director of the Center, Azer Zeynalov, informed the participants about the improvement of medical services and the strengthening of the material and technical base of the institution. A. Zeynalov stated that the introduction of mandatory health insurance has led to a significant improvement in the quality of the Center’s activities:

“The 115-bed hospital includes departments for Outpatient Clinic, Infectious Diseases, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Therapy, Pediatrics, Surgery, Anesthesiology and Resuscitation, Emergency Medical Services, and Physiotherapy. The Center is equipped with modern portable ultrasound devices, Holter monitors, electroencephalography, elastometry, and ophthalmological equipment. This equipment is particularly important for medical examinations and operations. In addition, with the introduction of insurance, the hospital’s laboratory services have been established at a level that meets international standards.”

The Head of the Agency’s Marketing and Public Relations Department, Aynura Ahmadova, noted that after the introduction of mandatory health insurance, the Center began performing various abdominal and gynecological surgeries that had not been previously carried out:

“For the first time, therapeutic procedures were initiated using Avastin injections into the eye to reduce the formation of pathological vessels and the leakage of existing vessels. Over the past year, some 2,000 surgical operations were performed at the hospital under mandatory health insurance. These mainly included surgeries related to pregnancy, childbirth, and diseases of the urogenital, digestive, skin, and subcutaneous tissue systems. During this period, the Center received over 85,000 visits under mandatory health insurance and provided more than 350,000 services.”

According to Hikmat Ibrahimli, Head of the Agency’s Medical Planning Department, monitoring was carried out at the Pirallahi Medical Center last year. The monitoring assessed the organization of medical services, infrastructure condition, technical equipment, and the medical staff’s level of knowledge in issuing medical referrals. He noted that, alongside the identified positive aspects, several bottlenecks were also observed and measures were taken to address them:

“In general, the purpose of monitoring medical institutions is to ensure that citizens can benefit from mandatory health insurance without obstacles, to improve the quality of medical services, and thereby to increase overall satisfaction. The monitoring aims to assess the implementation and organization of mandatory health insurance in state medical institutions. The key evaluation criteria include the organization of medical services provided within the Benefits Package, the proper conduct of patient admission and registration procedures, the availability of computer equipment and internet access, as well as the level of material and technical equipment.” He added that monitoring continues this year in the central hospitals of the region.

According to Zamira Adilova, Head of the Public Relations and Communications Department of the Administration of the Regional Medical Divisions, the Center is of particular importance both in terms of its location and the number of people it serves:

“The Center provides medical services to approximately 20,000 citizens. In addition, worth noting that the Chilov Family Health Center also operates under the Pirallahi Medical Center and provides services to approximately 200 people. This institution is the farthest from the center among the hospitals included in the Baku medical territorial division. Despite this, it is one of the Administration of the Regional Medical Divisions’ leading medical institutions in terms of infrastructure, quality of medical services, and citizen satisfaction.”

The media tour participants visited citizens receiving treatment under mandatory health insurance and got their feedback.

They were also briefed on the activities of the hospital’s Physiotherapy, Surgery, Emergency and Urgent Medical Care, Polyclinic, Laboratory, Gynecology, and Obstetrics departments.

Later, representatives of the media and non-governmental organizations underwent relevant examinations at the medical institution. The event concluded with a question-and-answer session.