Great challenge and leader's rescue mission

This story is about COVID-19 that has gripped the world, the strategy of the President of Azerbaijan and our state on the fight against the pandemic, as well as some of the important aspects of these difficult days.

The first report about the disease caused by the new coronavirus was circulated on Dec 31. Even though the disease turned into an epidemic after some time, the world did not attach importance to what was happening.

Despite this complexity, President Ilham Aliyev's strategic view of the problem and its forward-looking decisions based on a risk assessment contributed to the achievement of the main goal – preventing the spread of the virus and breaking the chain of infection. He said: "The priority for us is people's health, their life and social protection." A positive trend appeared in the ratio of those getting infected and those recovering. Azerbaijan's healthcare system, including medical professionals, demonstrated a capacity to overcome the difficult test.

Currently, on the instructions of the President, construction of 10 modular hospitals is underway. The commissioning of these hospitals means an additional 2,000 beds. If we add to this the 1,000 beds delivered in March, the 18 laboratories operating today, and the high professionalism and dedication of our doctors, one gets the idea of the current state of our healthcare system and the proportions of the work done.

Comparing the number of cases of infection and deaths, one can clearly see that Azerbaijan is managing the treatment of COVID-19 successfully: to date, of 1,932 people infected with coronavirus 1,441 people have recovered. There have been only 25 fatalities.

On March 19, President Ilham Aliyev signed an Order providing for mitigating the impact of the pandemic on the country's economy, macroeconomic stability, employment and businesses. Based on the broad order, the Cabinet of Ministers was allocated funds in the amount of one billion manats to finance the above measures. In addition, four working groups chaired by the ministers of economy, finance, labor and social protection of the population and the chairman of the Central Bank were set up to assess the impact of the pandemic on different spheres of life in the country and to prepare proposals.

The order attaches special importance to the issue of employment and social protection of the population. As a result, social protection of hired employees working in the sectors worst affected by the pandemic and the low-income categories of the population were strengthened along with short- and medium-term employment measures.

The approved Action Plan on the implementation of the President's Order envisages a total of 10 programs in the above areas. They cover 2.5 million people, which is evidence of the yet unprecedented proportions of social support.

The Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking Countries held in the format of a video conference at the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev as chairman was the first and serious call for international and regional cooperation in the fight against COVID-19.

President of Azerbaijan also initiated to hold a Summit on the theme "We stand together against COVID-19" in the format of the Contact Group of the Non-Aligned Movement. This initiative, unanimously supported and approved by the participating states, is yet another example of Azerbaijan's leadership in international cooperation against the coronavirus.

From the very beginning of the pandemic, our country has been working closely with the World Health Organization. Azerbaijan has allocated $5 million to the organization. The WHO issued a statement citing Azerbaijan as an example in the fight against coronavirus. Highly appreciating Azerbaijan's global contribution to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "I see the active efforts of the President of Azerbaijan at the national, regional and global levels in this fight. Taking this opportunity, I want to express my gratitude to Mr. President for joining and supporting efforts at these three levels."

Leaving behind many countries, Azerbaijan has set up a Fund to Support the Fight against Coronavirus. The state initially allocated 20 million manats into the fund. President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva donated their annual salary into the fund. Subsequently, this initiative was expanded and gave a second breath to the good traditions of our people.

Positive opinions about a team efficiently working to assess the situation correctly and overcome the crisis, the measures of comprehensive support for vulnerable segments of the population and, in general, the experience of Azerbaijan in the fight against coronavirus can also be heard outside the country. I would like to provide a quote from the remarks of the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Suma Chakrabarti, without any further comments: "I think that the past few months can be considered a great history for Azerbaijan. Your country is one of a handful countries and perhaps even the only country in the world that has achieved economic growth in the first quarter of the year. Along with this, given the importance of economic diversification, it is also worth noting the particularly good performance of the non-oil sector in times of crisis. This is a great story, and the day will come when people will make comparisons with Azerbaijan. Our annual meeting will be held next year and we will assess the countries for the next two-three years. Azerbaijan is already ahead in that respect."

Aslan Aslanov

Chairman of the Board of AZERTAC

OANA Vice-President