Over 15 thousand beneficiaries of Armenia will get the opportunity  for free medical care

ArmInfo. Over 15 thousand beneficiaries of Armenia will be able to use the program of medical care and services guaranteed by the state within the framework of a  social package. This decision was made at a meeting of the RV  government on December 20.

According to R A Acting Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan, the  program will include healthcare workers. In particular, in the areas  of free medical care, all employees of the regional medical centers  will be able to use, and in Yerevan only polyclinic workers. In the  future, as the Acting Minister continued, it is possible the increase  in the list of persons applying for free medical care. Currently, the  program involves about 230 thousand people, divided into 8 groups -  participants of the World War II and the Karabakh war, persons who  participated in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident, elderly  single people, convicts and detainees, persons who received a  residence permit, also socially disadvantaged families.

Arsen Torosyan also informed that the state has almost doubled the  amount of funding for the implementation of the program, which has  significantly reduced corruption risks. This year, 150 million drams  were sent only to purchase medical equipment for Yerevan clinics,  which is almost two times more than in 2017. He also announced plans  to increase funding for the treatment of cancer. In general, as noted  the Acting Minister, the Ministry is developing a program for global  system reform. In particular, we are talking about the possibility of  transferring state medical centers to trust management, opening  councils in clinics to which their leaders will be accountable.

Arsen Torosyan Torosyan did not rule out the possibility of including  about 30000 civil servants in the social package for about 120  thousand civil servants, noting that this issue requires additional  calculations and studies.