ArmInfo. The number of deaths in penitentiary institutions has decreased by four times. Minister of Justice of Armenia Rustam Badasyan announced this on his Facebook page.
The minister, in particular, noted: "It is no secret that one of the main problems of the penitentiary system in recent years has been the increase in mortality.
Thanks to the effective work of the Center for Penitentiary Medicine SNCO and close cooperation with the Penitentiary Service, in 2020 we recorded positive progress in this direction.
In particular, even if there are risks of COVID-19, the number of deaths significantly decreased compared to previous years. In 2020, 5 deaths were recorded and 21 deaths in 2019. We address your attention that there are no deaths from COVID-19 among detainees registered.
Another factor for effective evaluation of the work of SNCO is the elimination of delays in the organization of medical care. If in previous years it took weeks to provide state-guaranteed free medical care, now this process is organized in just one day, which allows prisoners to freely exercise their right to medical care. In order to improve the quality of medical care in 2020, 71 SNCO employees, that is, approximately 45% of employees, underwent specialized training. Steps to ensure high quality health care in prisons will be ongoing>.