President Ilham Aliyev: Main priorities for us during pandemic are people's health, their social protection and growth of economic activity in accordance with situation
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr.20
Trend:
Main priorities for us during the pandemic are people's health, their social protection and the growth of economic activity in accordance with the situation, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev during a meeting held through videoconference with the participation of Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population Sahil Babayev and Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov, Trend reports.
“When discussing the results of the first quarter on 14 April, I issued a number of instructions. Of course, all of them must be fulfilled and you should regularly inform me about their implementation. Additional instructions will be given today, as the pandemic continues. Despite the fact that the situation in Azerbaijan is under control, we need to take measures in accordance with the situation. The priority issue for us - I have already said this but I want to say it again – is the health of our people, their life and social protection. At the same time, under these conditions, we should pay more attention to the economy, of course, because everyone should know that if we do not have strong economic opportunities, we will not be able to successfully pursue social policies, especially during the pandemic, as this disease and its consequences require major financial resources. Therefore, I want to say again that the main priorities for us during the pandemic are people's health, their social protection and the growth of economic activity in accordance with the situation,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
The head of state pointed out that everyone needs to know that this great disaster has put the whole world to a serious test.
“To date, more than 140,000 people have died in the world. This disease defies all boundaries. Whereas at the initial stage it was imported into Azerbaijan from outside, then the process of internal infection began. However, I must note that as a result of tough preventive measures, we are keeping the situation under control. In a sense, the statistics of the last three to four days provides the basis for some optimism. I should note that in recent days the dynamics between the number of infected and those who have recovered is already positive. In other words, more people recover than get infected. This is mainly due to the measures taken. I want to say again: if we had not taken preventive measures in a timely manner, then there wouldn’t be a thousand patients in Azerbaijan, but perhaps 10,000, 20,000, maybe even more,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
The head of state noted that Azerbaijan is currently studying the experience of developed countries.
“The healthcare system in these countries has always been an example for many states. However, it is possible to say that the health system of countries with great potential is now in crisis. And this is natural, because the spread of the disease is so high, the disease spreads so quickly that the health system of no country, including Azerbaijan, can cope with it. Therefore, our main goal was to prevent the increase in infections that was observed, to break the chain of infections. All measures taken were aimed at overcoming this situation with small losses, helping our people, protecting them from this disaster and ensuring their social protection. I believe that the restrictive measures we have taken so far, their gradual tightening, as well as the provision of social protection for people working in areas affected by the pandemic, are a good reflection of our correct policy. I want to say again that in the last three to four days there has been a positive trend. We will continue to keep the situation under control in order to see how long this dynamics will continue, whether it is stable and what additional measures should be taken, because the world has faced a great challenge and we see that countries often struggle against this evil alone,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
