The Ministry of Health clarified its position regarding the merger of  the Center for AIDS Prevention and the Nork hospital

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.