DAMAGES TO AZERBAIJANI HEALTHCARE AS A RESULT OF ARMENIAN AGGRESSION

Abstract

This article examines the extensive damage inflicted on the healthcare infrastructure of Azerbaijan as a result of Armenian military aggression and occupation during the First Karabakh War. Based on archival documents, official statistics, scientific literature, and historical sources, the study analyzes the destruction of hospitals, polyclinics, pharmacies, maternity hospitals, sanatoriums, feldsher-midwife stations, and other medical institutions in the occupied districts of Shusha, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Qubadli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, Lachin, Tartar, Khojaly, Khojavand, and Khankendi. The research demonstrates that hundreds of healthcare facilities equipped with modern medical technologies were looted, burned, or completely destroyed, causing billions of US dollars in economic losses to Azerbaijan. The occupation also resulted in the forced displacement of thousands of healthcare professionals and residents, severely affecting the medical and social well-being of the local population. Particular attention is devoted to the destruction of health resorts, mineral water resources, and therapeutic centers of strategic importance. The article further highlights the post-2020 reconstruction process in the liberated territories, emphasizing the establishment of modern healthcare institutions within the framework of the “smart city,” “smart village,” and “green energy zone” concepts in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur.