17 November 2022 15:15

State care for premature babies is improved with mandatory health insurance

Protecting the health of mothers and children and increasing the quality of medical services provided to children, especially premature babies, have always been among the priorities for the activities of the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance (Agency).

The Benefit Package includes 221 medical services in order to ensure the health protection of premature babies who need special care. These services are provided to women in week of 22 pregnancy and their premature babies in perinatal centers operating in the city of Baku and throughout the regions (including the cities of Ganja and Sumgait and towns such as Guba, Lankaran, Sheki, and Sabirabad); the services are provided at the Republican Clinical Hospital named after academician M.A.Mirgasimov, the Scientific Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Scientific Research Institute of Pediatrics named after K.Y.Farajova (only for children).

These inpatient therapeutic services play important roles in saving babies' lives and preventing possible disabilities. These services include treatment of cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive system diseases, blood diseases, infectious diseases, paralysis, and complications related to newborn injuries and traumas of various causes.

It should be noted that over 4,000 babies born prematurely in the state health facilities under TABIB during the months of January to October of 2022 were covered by the medical services included in the Benefit Package of the mandatory health insurance. In accordance with the "2014-2022 State Program on Improving Maternal and Newborn Health," the Agency continuously supplies equipment, medicines, and medical supplies for relevant state health facilities. During 2021-2022, 11 types of equipment for inpatient medical care were supplied to medical facilities. The equipment vital for babies include the automatic oxygen supply and isolettes with optimal temperature control, as well as breathing, heating devices, and other equipment provided by the Agency.

Health facilities are regularly supplied with 15 medicines that play important roles in the development of premature babies. Among these are life-saving medicines such as poractant alfa and caffeine citrate, which eliminate respiratory system disorders, as well as Alprostadil, which regulates blood circulation in children born with heart defects.

Medical facilities are also provided with 63 medical supplies used for the examination and treatment of babies' nutrition and their blood-vessel, respiratory, and genitourinary systems, as well as other organs.

Every year, November 17 is celebrated as International Premature Babies' Day. The purpose of celebrating this day is to inform the public about the risks and complications of premature birth and its prevention, including timely termination of pregnancy. According to the estimates of the World Health Organization, about 15 million children are born prematurely on the planet every year. Premature birth is defined as birth occurring between the 22nd and 37th weeks of pregnancy.