AZE.US
Azerbaijani journalist Hamid Hamidov has drawn attention to the poor condition of restrooms at Children’s Clinical Hospital No. 6 in Baku, posting photographs of the facility on Facebook.
In his post, Hamidov criticized the condition of public healthcare facilities and questioned the effectiveness of reforms under the State Agency for Management of Medical Territorial Units (TƏBİB).
“Children’s Clinical Hospital No. 6. Restrooms as they are,” Hamidov wrote alongside the photographs.
The journalist also criticized TƏBİB Chairman Anar Bayramov, who took the position in April, saying that the agency’s activities have largely focused on replacing hospital and clinic administrators while, in his view, broader problems within the healthcare system remain unresolved.
Hamidov said he had personally visited three public outpatient clinics in Baku in early June while seeking a medical certificate. He described seeing long queues, particularly among middle-aged and older patients, dark corridors, outdated furniture and damaged interior facilities.
He also criticized working conditions for medical staff, claiming that new workplace rules had restricted employees from drinking tea, water or coffee at their desks and reduced their break time to 15 minutes.
The journalist expressed continued support for placing responsibility for healthcare under a single institution, the Ministry of Health, and called for what he described as “radical reform” of Azerbaijan’s healthcare system.
Hamidov also questioned the effectiveness of Azerbaijan’s mandatory health insurance system, claiming that an increasing number of private medical facilities are refusing to provide services through the insurance system.
“Public restrooms on the streets, in government institutions, roadside cafés, restaurants – wherever they may be – are our face and an indicator of the level of culture in society,” Hamidov wrote.
AZE.US