14 December 2021 15:29

Training sessions were held on "The role of the media and civil society in raising awareness among the population of mandatory health insurance"

On December 14, the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance (Agency) and the Agency for Media Development of the Republic of Azerbaijan organized training sessions for the representatives of mass media and non-governmental organizations on "The role of the media and civil society in awareness-raising among the population of mandatory health insurance."

The main purpose of the training was to provide detailed information to the media representatives covering the Agency's activities and mandatory health insurance in general, to expand cooperation with them, as well as to strengthen partnerships with non-governmental organizations.

Speaking at the opening of the event, Aynura Ahmadova, Head of the Marketing and Public Relations Department of the Agency, said that awareness-raising among the population on mandatory health insurance was one of the priorities of the Agency and the role of the media and non-governmental organizations was important. Giving information about the training program, Ahmadova also noted the reforms implemented by the Agency this year: “The purpose of the reforms carried out for structural changes in health facilities is to ensure the effective organization and management of the activities of state health facilities. At the same time, the recruitment of public relations specialists in hospitals, as part of the reform, will contribute to strengthening communication between health facilities and the media.”

Natig Mammadli, head of the Media Subjects and Journalists Department of the Agency for Media Development, spoke about the importance of training in improving the professional level of media representatives and training specialists in the relevant field. Improving the knowledge and skills of media representatives in various fields is important to provide true and accurate information on these areas to the public. To achieve this, the Agency has implemented several development programs and comprehensive measures with various agencies from the date of its establishment. To date, more than 450 media representatives have been involved in various training sessions and professional development programs, with the participation of more than 70 local and international trainers.

In the first part of the training, Sabina Guliyeva, Head of the Division for Technical Rules of Medical Expertise of the Agency, made a presentation on "Medical services included in the Benefit Package", and Arif Akbarov, Head of the Agency's Referrals Division, made a presentation on the "Rules of issuing referrals". The participants were also shown a video about the story of a citizen who received services under the mandatory health insurance.

In the second part of the training, Konul Alakbarov, the head of the Working Group of the Agency, Director of the Clinical Medical Center made a presentation on the “Procedure for applying to medical facilities to benefit from the mandatory health insurance and the role of TABIB in the introduction of the mandatory health insurance system" and Ilhama Musayeva, Head of the Public Relations Division of the Agency, made a presentation on "Expanding cooperation between the Agency and the media and civil society."

The training also included a practical session. First the participants were asked questions about mandatory health insurance, and then the correct answers were provided.

At the end, questions from the participants were answered, and certificates were presented to the participants.