Azerbaijan aims to serve 30,000 people in rehabilitation centers in 2022

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Azerbaijan’s Social Security Minister Sahil Babayev has said that the ministry aims to serve some 30,000 people in rehabilitation centers in 2022, Azernews reports.

Babayev made the remarks at the presentation ceremony of the EU technical assistance project - "Support for reforms in the system of rehabilitation of disabled people in Azerbaijan", which is aimed at the social integration of the disabled, improving the quality of services provided to them, and creating a rehabilitation system based on the best European practice on July 8, the report added.

“If we were only able to serve 10,000 residents in rehabilitation facilities in 2018, we have set a target of serving 30,000 people this year. Furthermore, new rehabilitation centers are being built. The Children's Rehabilitation Center in Shamkir is scheduled to open this year,” Babayev stressed.

Another critical concern, according to the minister, is the rehabilitation of veterans of the 44-day war (2020), including the provision of various rehabilitation equipment

Babayev underlined that after 18 months since the conclusion of the 44-day war, over 190,000 services had been provided to 103,000 people, including martyrs' families and disabled war veterans.

In the post-war period, 2,500 war participants have been provided with rehabilitation services, over 1,400 war-disabled persons have been provided with 19,300 rehabilitation tools, and a total of 300 war-disabled persons, including 200 veterans of the 44-day war, have been provided with modern prostheses of the latest generation, the minister added.

Babayev stated that the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, their social protection and integration into society, and further improvement of services in this field are among the priority for the Azerbaijani government, and continuous work is being carried out in the country in this regard.

The minister added that Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to join the UN Convention "On the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" in 2008.

He went on to say that 15 rehabilitation institutes of the State Medical-Social Expertise and Rehabilitation Agency under the ministry have been constructed in recent years to meet modern standards, and the capacity of rehabilitation centers has tripled.

The DOST Inclusive Development and Creativity Center, according to Babayev, encourages the development of the creative potential, abilities, and other skills of socially sensitive groups such as handicapped people, especially war disabled, and members of martyrs' families among others.

He expressed hope that the new initiative will give considerable assistance for improvements in the country's rehabilitation system for people with disabilities.

Furthermore, Zaur Aliyev, Chairman of the Compulsory Medical Insurance Agency, Vugar Gurbanov, Acting Chairman of TABIB (Management Union of Medical Territorial Units), and Deputy Health Minister Ilgar Gasimov spoke about the protection of the country's population's health, including state care for people with disabilities, their medical and social rehabilitation, and medical insurance. The officials discussed previous initiatives as well as future objectives.

Then Michelle Moore, project team leader, highly appreciated the reforms carried out in the field of social protection in Azerbaijan, as well as the work done on ensuring the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities, and gave detailed information about the project, which will be implemented by October 15, 2023.

During the mentioned period, based on the best international practice, documents and methods will be prepared for the transition from the traditional medical model to the social model for the rehabilitation of disabled individuals. In addition, the new structure of the rehabilitation centers, the staff will be improved, and training will be carried out.