Monday, October 15 2018 14:06

ArmInfo. On October 14, Armenian Health Minister Arsen Torosyan held a meeting with the heads of medical institutions of the republic.

At the meeting, the Minister announced new principles for the  provision of state orders, increasing the level of social protection  of health workers and an uncompromising struggle against the shadow  money circulation in the area, the press service of the Ministry of  Health reports.

According to the minister, the principles of spending state funds,  proclaimed by the new government, may be painful, but they suggest  treatment and health care reforms. As Torosyan pointed out, everyone  understands that it is impossible to move forward without abandoning  the previous vicious practices, ranging from overpayments under the  state order to the waste of these funds.

"Our steps over the past 5 months have been aimed at eliminating  such phenomena. There will be no medical institutions that have a  privileged position. We must fix once and for all that taxpayers'  funds are not subject to embezzlement and embezzlement, and those  responsible for this should not go unpunished, regardless of the form  of ownership or the status of their owner, "Torosyan stressed.

The Ministry of Health, as the head of the department said, continues  to check in medical centers today.  Major violations have already  been announced, new disclosures are on the way. As stated by the head  of the Ministry of Health, the initiated criminal cases indicate that  much remains to be done to increase the transparency of the sphere  and its productivity. Torosyan admitted that today the funds  allocated by the state cannot be called sufficient for the full  realization of guaranteed medical aid to the population. But a  positive trend is already emerging. "In 2019, we expect an  unprecedented increase in budget allocations for the healthcare  sector by about 10.5 billion drams for the last 10 years, which will  make it possible to fill a number of gaps," he said. Of these funds,  about 6 billion drams will be directed to community services. 5,4  billion drams will be allocated to medical institutions that provide  outpatient medical services. As Arsen Torosyan stated, the "shadow"  in the sphere should be completely excluded without any  preconditions. In the first half of 2018, the growth of the sector  was about 30%, which is largely the result of the reduction in shadow  turnover. The government, as he pointed out, intends to achieve a  reduction in the "shadow" also through changes in the system of  financing state orders, when the volume of state orders will  correlate with the volume of official paid services for certain  budget programs. Referring to raising the level of social security of  health workers, Arsen Torosyan said that at the moment a draft  government decision is being discussed, according to which 13  thousand health workers will receive medical insurance, as well as  state employees and teachers. In addition, as stated by Deputy  Minister Arsen Davtyan, the funds allocated to the field of oncology  will increase by 70-80%. It is also planned to implement the program  according to the Stent for life model also for "insulators" - in  urgent cases, within the framework of the state order, provide  endovascular treatment for ischemic stroke.