Medprosvet Group Discusses Conditions of Upcoming Lockdown with Presidential Assistant

Baku / 11.06.20 / Turan: A network group of Azerbaijani citizens Medprosvet reported the results of a meeting of group activists with presidential aide Anar Alekperov. On June 10, at 16 o’clock, a meeting was held at the H. Aliyev Center at the initiative of the Presidential Administration, which responded to the collective appeal of 279 citizens who signed up for the appeal to the President, First Vice-President and Ombudsman of Azerbaijan. Most of the signatories are doctors.

In the appeal, citizens expressed “concern about the introduction of an ill-conceived, two-day restriction of all movement of citizens on June 6 and 7, introduced by the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan. People were actually placed under house arrest in 5 regions. Of course, quarantine measures, adopted around the world, including in our country, aimed at combating the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, are necessary and effective. We ask you to check the bacchanalia in which 5 regions of our country plunged in the specified period. "

Medprosvet’s appeal listed the shortcomings of the two-day lockdown: the ambulance didn’t keep up with the calls of citizens, call centers didn’t answer calls, citizens didn’t have the opportunity to buy medicines and food, throw away trash, walk their pets, or call public utilities for emergency repairs in the house, patients with mental disorders interrupted classes with specialized doctors, etc.

The two-day house arrest of residents of five regions of our country was ineffective and inappropriate. The damage was done to both specific citizens and society as a whole, the prestige of the state and confidence in the authorities.

The people, embittered by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, began to compose jokes and stories; and forces desiring social destabilization intervened. With these forces, a myth was thrown into the public discourse that the authorities were locking people's houses to prevent large protest rallies and opposition rallies on a free Sunday, the authors of the appeal said.

In response to the “Collective letter to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva and the Ombudsman Sabina Aliyeva against complete isolation at the weekend”, the Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Anar Alekperov expressed a desire to meet with the initiative group of Medprosvet. The meeting was attended by the Ombudsman Sabina Aliyeva.

The representative of Medprosvet, doctor Zaur Orujov, said that at the meeting it was possible to find out: for objective reasons, a lockdown at the end of this week is inevitable. The operational headquarters took into account the experience of the lockdown on June 6 and 7 and took a number of measures that promise to mitigate the consequences of such a decision for the most vulnerable during the next June 14-15 lockdown - hard quarantine in Azerbaijan.

The number of ambulances will be significantly increased.

ASAN Khidmet will connect to emergency telephone service.

Dog walking will be allowed, but only to a reasonable extent and without abuse.

The request to ease the rules for families in which there are sick relatives will not be taken into account, since it will not work for them to ease the burden of a strict lockdown.

In the case of minor domestic accidents, citizens will have to rely on their own technical skills, as it will not work to call repairmen.

There will be no special permission for household waste. "Interior Ministry officials are trying, if the need is obvious to throw out trash, not to resort to immediate repressive measures. Of course there are no guarantees, but most likely you will simply be asked to return to your house culturally," Orujov reports.

One thing is for sure. On June 14-15, the lockdown will be more thought out than on June 6 and 7. "Obviously, without our help, the safety margin of the state machine will soon run out. We must finally grow up and take responsibility for the country and society."

Medprosvet believes that it is necessary to hone the established mechanisms of rapid social reaction. "We must be prepared to mobilize for new petitions in the future, if necessary.

"The head of TƏBİB and a member of the operational headquarters Ramin Bayramli urged us to buy medicines before the lockdown. I do not consider such a call to be a responsible one for a medical officer. Throughout the lockdown period, our team will monitor social networks for the most severe cases when the lockdown will hit the lives of those or other citizens. We promise to bring such cases to the public and to the competent authorities," said group leader Zaur Orujov in his address.-0-