Monday, September 7 2020 14:22

ArmInfo. Former Director of the Republican AIDS Prevention Center SNCO Samvel Grigoryan filed a lawsuit demanding that the RA Ministry of Health restore him at his previous job (in the event of SNCO reorganization, reappoint him as director of the successor organization) and reimburse the amount of  the forced downtime.

It is reported by the judicial information  system DataLex. To recall, following the merger of the Republican  Center for AIDS Prevention and the Nork Clinical Infectious Diseases  Hospital, the National Center for Infectious Diseases was  established, the acting director of which is Hovhannes Madoyan. The  newly created structure will deal not only with the treatment of  infectious diseases, but also with the elimination (reduction to zero  incidence of a certain form of infection) of certain diseases. It is  noteworthy that the news of the merger of the two medical facilities  misled some patients who mistakenly thought that the Republican  Center for AIDS Prevention was no longer operational. In fact, it  continues its usual activities, including in terms of dispensary  monitoring of HIV patients and conducting appropriate tests.

Earlier, the RA Ministry of Health noted that the merger of the two  medical institutions is aimed at ensuring the safety and quality and  availability of services for patients. Thus, international experience  shows that the main causes of death among people living with HIV are  opportunistic diseases arising in the AIDS stage, mainly of an  infectious nature (tuberculosis, severe bacterial infections,  cryptococcal meningitis, toxoplasmosis, pneumocystis pneumonia,  hepatitis C), and also malignant neoplasms. The management of other  infections accompanying people with HIV creates a difficult situation  for clinics involved in the entire chain of treatment and patient  care. Meanwhile, according to the data of the Joint United Nations  Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS), international experience shows that  integrated management is more effective and helps to lift patients  out of isolation, as well as reduce stigma and discrimination. Back  in 2019, according to the results of an assessment carried out by the  World Health Organization (WHO) mission to Armenia, it was proposed  to decentralize the HIV diagnostic service.

At the beginning of the year, the decision to merge with Nork drew  sharp criticism from the Republican AIDS Prevention Center, but  tensions eased after Nork became the first hospital in Armenia to be  redesigned to treat patients with coronavirus. Over the past months,  the capacities of "Nork" have been strengthened and, in particular, a  separate module has been built for persons with suspected   coronavirus.