Providing prompt information to the public regarding human life and health is one of the main duties of state institutions. Especially, official information provided about the condition of the injured during unfortunate incidents and road accidents is of great importance for both their relatives and society. However, our attempt to obtain information about the accident on the Baku-Sumgayit road yesterday, which resulted in injuries to a 17-year-old motorcycle driver, showed that in some cases, serious questions arise regarding promptness.
However, with the exception of issues related to commercial secrets, state secrets, or the inviolability of private life, timely dissemination of information to the public in cases such as road accidents and human casualties is a requirement of transparency and trust.
The first information about the accident was provided by Modern.az. The information provided by witnesses at the scene stated that the injured female motorcyclist was taken to Absheron District Central Hospital in an injured state. We sent an inquiry to TABIB to get information about the latest condition of the injured person. Although the inquiry was reviewed, no response was provided despite hours passing. During this time, one of the relatives of the injured person contacted us via social media, stating that they had read the news about the incident on our website and were interested in whether the inquiry about the injured person's condition had been answered. Although we contacted TABIB again at 18:00, the institution stated that the inquiry would be answered during working hours.
Although we pointed out that the situation was related to human life, the institution responded, "It is not an urgent matter, it will be answered tomorrow. Sometimes we are informed about the incident in advance and the answer is sent immediately. However, it is not always possible to respond promptly during non-working hours. In very major incidents, inquiries are answered regardless of the hour and day."
Some time after the institution's response, a relative of the injured person informed our website that the 17-year-old girl had died at the scene. The deceased person was identified as Zahra Mehdiyeva, the daughter of the well-known lawyer and professor of international law, Farhad Mehdiyev.
Today, in response to our inquiry, TABIB's official statement noted that no appeal regarding the incident was registered with the Republican Emergency and Urgent Medical Aid Center.
In fact, at this point, the essence of the matter is not only when the inquiry will be answered. Here, it is about how effectively operative information exchange is organized during incidents related to human life. Because as media representatives, in such cases, we need the position of the relevant institutions to accurately inform the public and prevent the spread of various claims and unofficial information.
TABIB is an institution that provides healthcare services and is responsible for issues related to people's health and life. In this regard, in cases of serious accidents, deaths, or incidents resulting in severe injuries, the issue of informing the public should be approached more sensitively and promptly. Our attempt to obtain information about the incident showed that in some cases, there are still gaps in the field of operative communication. This time, unfortunately, TABIB could not provide both the media and the public with the prompt information they expected.
As Modern.az, we believe that TABIB and other relevant institutions will further improve their communication mechanisms in this direction and fully ensure promptness and transparency in similar cases in the future.
On behalf of our editorial office, we wish Allah's mercy to Zahra Mehdiyeva, who lost her life in the accident, and extend our deepest condolences to her relatives!
