Azerbaijan faces a doctor shortage. According to official data, there are 34,776 doctors in the country, 68% of whom work in Baku. In the capital, there are 100 doctors per 10,000 people, but in the regions, the number is dramatically lower.
Dashkasan district has only 15 doctors, with 4 doctors per 10,000 people. Residents of Tovuz's Kohnagala village struggle to find doctors: “There are no doctors in our village; we have to go to Shamkir, Ganja, or Gazakh. Cardiologists, pulmonologists, and neurologists are unavailable.”
Similar issues exist in Oghuz district, where only 57 doctors are registered. Residents find it hard to locate traumatologists and endocrinologists and must travel to Shaki for kidney and diabetes care.
Mushfig Mammadli, a member of the Parliamentary Health Committee, believes that solving the problem requires measures that increase doctors’ interest in working in regions. He suggests providing housing, financial incentives, promoting the private sector, and mortgage benefits.
TABIB (Management Union of Medical Territorial Units) acknowledged the shortage of certain specialists in regional healthcare facilities and stated that personnel planning and placement mechanisms are being improved.
