ArmInfo.The RA Ministry of Health clarified its position regarding the merger of the Republican AIDS Prevention Center and the Nork Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital.
As the statement said, this decision of the Ministry of Health aims to ensure the safety and quality and accessibility of services for patients.
Managing other infections accompanying people with HIV creates a difficult situation for clinics involved in the entire chain of treatment and patient care. Effective management requires an integrated approach to treatment, taking into account the side effects of antiretroviral drugs, possible interactions with other drugs, and other possible complications.
According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS), international experience also suggests that integrated management is more effective and helps to remove patients from isolation, as well as reduce stigma and discrimination.
Regional countries also abandoned the "separate" AIDS center and integrated services in the field of infectious disease management: Back in 2019, according to an assessment conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) mission in Armenia, it was proposed to decentralize the HIV diagnostic service. And in 2018, according to the Astana Declaration, strengthening primary health care in terms of joint management of tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis C and infections will help strengthen the fight against HIV. It involves more comprehensive care of the patient, increasing the treatment sequence, in particular, if necessary, multiple professional interventions, reducing the risk of interruption of treatment by patients, more economical visits to medical facilities and reducing the "waiting time."
Prior to this, the Republican Center for AIDS Prevention provided only outpatient services for the diagnosis and treatment of HIV / AIDS, did not work around the clock and on weekends, which was an obstacle to timely investigation and monitoring of cases sent by public organizations. The accession of the Center to the hospital will positively affect the process of organizing the treatment of patients, and will also contribute to the use of the technical capabilities of the center in the diagnosis and treatment of a number of other infectious diseases that often accompany HIV / AIDS.
It should be noted that under the state order at the center, diagnostic and treatment services for people living with HIV will continue to be provided in the hospital to the same extent to all registered patients. Taking into account all the facts recorded, we urge not to impede the authorized body from performing its functions and not to disrupt the course of reforms>.
We add that the Republican AIDS Prevention Center opposed the merger with the Nork hospital. Earlier, in an interview with ArmInfo, the head of the epidemiological surveillance department of the Center Arshak Papoyan noted that this decision was made in the light of the lack of specialized discussions with the Center's staff. This fact is of particular concern given the fact that in the republic, in addition to the Center, there is no other specialized organization working in the field of treatment and prevention of AIDS. In this regard, according to him, there is a danger of losing important, significant achievements of Armenia in this area. This, in particular, concerns the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, effective control of the epidemic and the quality of HIV research.
The staff of the Center expressed their concern about the situation in an open letter addressed to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.