Head of the Department of Lung Diseases of Azerbaijan Medical University, Associate Professor Rafig Bayramov gave an interview to the media on World Lung Day on September 25 and spoke about lung diseases.
According to him, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) predict that in the near future, people in the world will suffer more from chronic lung diseases than from heart attacks or strokes:
"The main reasons for this are air pollution, which is caused by environmental factors, and the role of excessive smoking in the development of many chronic lung diseases.
Mortality from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the main cause of which is smoking, is currently on the rise: the disease kills 100 people every five minutes and more than three million a year.
At least 70 million people worldwide currently suffer from AXOX. According to the WHO, AXOX will take the third place in the world mortality table for 2030. "
He noted that no matter how much the fight against smoking at the state level, citizens often do not want to give up this harmful habit:
"In recent years, the increase in the number of smokers, especially among women, is a disappointing factor. Also, bronchial asthma and tuberculosis are very important among chronic lung diseases.
It is true that in recent years there has been a relative reduction or stabilization in the incidence, morbidity and mortality of tuberculosis, but the increase in drug-resistant tuberculosis remains a serious issue.
The head of the department also informed about the strategies and measures created by the Ministry of Health to prevent the spread of lung diseases in our country.
"The government of Azerbaijan, including the Ministry of Health, regularly takes all necessary measures to prevent the spread of lung diseases and treat those suffering from this disease.
Thus, an appropriate strategy to combat widespread lung diseases has been developed and is being implemented. State programs (for example, the Program of Measures to Combat Tuberculosis) are being implemented in our country to combat some chronic lung diseases.
In order to combat AXOX and tobacco, which play a key role in the development of many chronic lung diseases, new bills have been approved in our country and a decision has been made to ban smoking in closed, public places.
Rafig Bayramov said the measures to combat tuberculosis in our country are also satisfactory. Thus, he informed that both drug-sensitive and resistant TB patients were registered and treated at the expense of the state.
R.Bayramov said that currently there are medical institutions and highly qualified personnel in our country that meet modern standards and are equipped with the latest medical equipment.
He expressed hope that in the near future, like many organ transplants, lung transplantation will be performed in Azerbaijan, despite the fact that lung transplantation operations are not performed in our country.