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Sabina Mammadli

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By Sabina Mammadli

A total of 75.8 million manats ($44.6 million) in revenue was collected by Azerbaijan’s YASHAT Foundation, the foundation head Elvin Huseynov said.

He made the remark at a press conference on the two-year activities of the foundation in Baku. Notably, the foundation was established to create a transparent, effective and accessible platform to support disabled military servicemen and families of martyrs, who protected the territorial integrity of the country.

According to Huseynov, the total expenses on YASHAT’s activity directions amounted to over 71 million manats ($41.7 million), and the balance of funds – 4.2 million manats ($2.4 million).

Further, he added that expenses for improving the living conditions of 2020 Second Karabakh War veterans and martyr families equaled 41 million manats ($24.1 million), education, training, and development of creative potential – 1.3 million manats ($760,000).

Besides, 6.7 million manats ($3.9 million) were spent on consumer loans and repayment of other debt obligations of the war veterans and martyr families, and 22.4 million manats ($13.18 million) - on treatment and psychological support.

The official noted that a total of over 1.04 million manats ($610,000) were donated by Azerbaijanis living abroad to the foundation.

According to Huseynov, this amount included 990,067 manats ($582,390), $10,180, 6,395 euro, 34,117 Turkish liras ($90.25), 2,844 roubles ($45.5), and 2,975 British pound sterling ($3,623) collected from April 29, 2021, through May 31, 2021, during the YASHAT Marathon held at the initiative of the Azerbaijan State Committee for Work with the Diaspora and the YASHAT Foundation, with the financial support and organization of the Azerbaijani Diaspora Support Fund.

Noting that the purpose of the marathon was to bring together Azerbaijanis living in different parts of the world to help the Azerbaijani soldiers, Huseynov added that from May 25 through May 26, 2021, 5,061 manats ($2,980) was collected through SMS donations.

Moreover, the official informed that the foundation sent its 177 seriously injured veterans of the 2020 second Karabakh war and seven members of martyr families for treatment to Türkiye.

According to Huseynov, 160 of the persons have already returned to Azerbaijan after undergoing treatment, while 23 seriously injured veterans and one member of a martyr family continue treatment in Türkiye. He added that Turkish doctors examined over 150 injured veterans.

“On March 10, 2021, a doctor invited from Türkiye checked up on the seriously injured veteran in a coma. Between February 28 and March 7, 2021, eight military doctors invited from Israel checked up on 148 veterans with serious vision problems,” Huseynov explained.

Huseynov added that 30 veterans were operated on, the vision of two veterans was restored as a result of the operation, 55 veterans were given prostheses, and 82 veterans were checked up.

“To continue the process of recovering the injured veterans, RGO (Reciprocating Gait Orthosis) orthopedic devices worth 38,999 manats ($22,940), ordered by the foundation from abroad, were delivered to the country. The equipment was used in the treatment of seven injured veterans. A Giger MD (Medical Device) rehabilitation device worth 47,200 manats ($27,760) was also purchased for the treatment of injured veterans,“ he said.

Furthermore, Huseynov mentioned that professionals from all over the world have checked up on Azerbaijani veterans, such as a member of YASHAT’s Board of Trustees, Professor of Neurology and Senior Consultant at the University of Copenhagen, and President of the International Headache Society Messoud Ashina, Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Comprehensive Headache Center in Boston Sait Ashina, a doctor from Israel.

“In Türkiye, with the support of the foundation, a commission consisting of two employees of the Azerbaijani State Agency Medical and Social Expertise and Rehabilitation and two employees of the Association for the Management of Medical Territorial Units was established to assess the degree of disability of 28 seriously injured veterans receiving treatment,” he shared.

The official emphasized that besides that on February 24, 2022, a team of medical personnel from Value Added Medicine Medical Park, one of the largest hospitals in Türkiye, arrived in Azerbaijan.

“The doctors examined up to 20 injured, and one child from a martyr family, who underwent surgery in Türkiye, successfully completed the treatment and returned to Azerbaijan,” Huseynov noted.

Similarly, on May 20, 2022, a meeting was held with the participation of representatives of the YASHAT Foundation, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population and the State Agency for Compulsory Health Insurance of Azerbaijan. At the meeting, issues of further rehabilitation of persons undergoing treatment in Türkiye after their return to the country were discussed, he stressed.

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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl

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