WHO: Azerbaijan exemplary country in fight against COVID-19

23 May 2020 14:30 (UTC+04:00)

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By Ayya Lmahamad

Head of the World Health Organization's country office Hande Harmanci has hailed Azerbaijan's efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, saying that the country is first to implement REACT-C19 project.

“Azerbaijan is the first country implementing a project such as REACT-C19, and in this sense, it can be an example for countries in the world,” Harmanci said on May 22, addressing the briefing on the REACT-C19 project results.

The aim of the project is rapid development of basic skills related to the treatment of patients infected with COVID-10 in hospitals of Azerbaijan.

During the briefing, she stressed that Azerbaijan aims to purchase new developed tests.

"So far, PSR tests have been conducted to detect coronavirus. Currently, serological tests for coronavirus are being developed to detect whether a person has been infected with the virus or not, i.e. to detect the presence of immune system antibodies against the virus. Azerbaijan intends to buy these tests. As a result, the number of infected people will become known," said Harmanci.

She noted that before developing a vaccine against coronavirus, other issues such as compliance with certain rules to prevent the spread of infection must also be taken into account.

It was noted at the briefing that the second phase of the REACT-C19 project, which aims to strengthen basic skills related to measures to combat coronavirus COVID-19 in hospitals in Azerbaijan, has been completed.

The delegation of REACT-C19 worked in four hospitals in Baku, and also visited hospitals in Ganja, Agdash, Goranboy and Shamkir, prepared an activity plan and gave recommendations. Over 400 medical specialists took part in the trainings during the period.

Furthermore, Harmanci emphasized that more than 100 types of work related to the coronavirus vaccine are being carried out and already 8 vaccines have begun to be tested on humans.

"We hope that one or two of them will be used by the end of this year," she pointed.

Harmanci stressed that although with the easing of the quarantine regime, the number of affected people is increasing, this cannot be called a second wave of the pandemic.

The REACT-C19 project has been launched upon the initiative of the World Health Organization, with support from the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, TABIB, and the Ministry of Health, in a bid to strengthen basic skills related to measures to combat coronavirus COVID-19 in hospitals in Azerbaijani regions. The project involves 19 Azerbaijani doctors working in Turkey.

As of May 22, Azerbaijan has registered 3.749 COVID-19 cases and 44 coronavirus-related deaths so far. The total number of recovered patients is 2.340.