BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Azerbaijani health-care professionals deny the comments made by Armenian Airazat Kazaryan and colleagues that the unfortunate rise in COVID-19 cases in Armenia is due to the events surrounding the Second Karabakh war, Trend reports.
In an article named “The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the politicization of science,” the authors write that this Comment is an attempt to politicize scientific data via misrepresentation of COVID-19 statistics, distortion of facts, and omission of important historical context.
They explain that the leading causes of the worldwide increase in COVID-19 cases since early September 2020 include colder weather and lower humidity, a shift from outdoor to indoor gatherings, and the reopening of businesses and schools.
“Although a military conflict could worsen the pandemic, the sharp rise in the number of daily reported COVID-19 cases predated the recent exacerbation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Such a rise was reported in Georgia, a country that neighbors Azerbaijan and Armenia and is uninvolved in the conflict,” the authors write.
The authors also added that as health-care professionals, they are all united by universally recognized human rights and belief in the value of human life.
“The politicization of science with ethnocentric views undermines the positive effect of science on our lives. It is imperative that we all seek to promote peace and prevent military conflict without using science for political gain,” the authors said.