ArmInfo. Head of the RA Ministry of Health Arsen Torosyan called the rumors about his resignation political speculations, which have been going on for two years. The Minister voiced this opinion in an interview with the RFE/RL's Armenian Service
Commenting on the circulated rumors about the alleged dissatisfaction of the authorities with his work, Torosyan noted that the assessment of activities is an ongoing process, which is based on starting from discussions and ending with personal meetings. At the same time, he noted that it is difficult to remember when the last time he had a one-on-one meeting with the RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. According to him, such a meeting could have taken place in the period preceding the last two weeks.
As for the fight against coronavirus, it, as noted, is the task of not only the Ministry of Health, but of the entire republic, and various departments have done and continue to do relevant work in their part. In addition, taking into account the percentage of people who have died from coronavirus, we can say that the RA healthcare system has done even more than it could, given the funding and attention to the field over the past decades. "The assessment of the health care system and the Ministry of Health cannot be anything other than satisfactory or positive, taking into account the above," he said.
Torosyan also pointed to the urgent mobilization of the healthcare system and 40 thousand workers in connection with COVID-19, noting that about 5 thousand medical workers were involved in the process of treating coronavirus, which is an unprecedented indicator for Armenia. The same can be said for the mobilization of human, financial and technical resources. "This happened on a tight schedule, 24 hours a day, and continues to this day, at a slower pace due to the improvement in the coronavirus situation," he said.
The Minister also informed that the expenses of the Ministry of Health on the fight against COVID-19 are published and are in the public domain. "Financial discussions should be conducted on the level of whether we have properly funded the fight against coronavirus, whether we have left our doctors helpless, patients without drugs, and hospitals without equipment. We did not have anything of the above, and all the indicated directions were provided at a satisfactory level, the lion's share - at the expense of the state budget, the rest - at the expense of partners," Torosyan emphasized.
The Minister also touched upon some criticism in his address due to the fact that he went on vacation amid the coronavirus epidemic. Torosyan noted that vacation is a constitutional right not only of himself, but also of his family and children, and no one can trample on this right and speculate with it. Meanwhile, he informed that during his vacation he will periodically come to work, since he has a number of remote meetings scheduled, as well as a speech at the regional conference of the World Health Organization.
In total, 43,270 cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the republic, 36,988 people recovered, 864 died. Currently, 5,153 patients are receiving actual treatment.