ARMENIA ALLOCATES FUNDS FOR SICK WITH HEMOPHILIA

YEREVAN, MAY 19. ARMINFO. In September 2004 the Armenian Government
intends to purchase a preparation contributing to coagulation of
blood for the sick with hemophilia. Armenian Health Minister Norayr
Davtyan informed ARMINFO that the purchase of the preparation was
necessitated by the agreement signed by the Armenian Government and
the World Federation of Hemophilia in 2003.

The minister says that the budget will allocate $150,000 for purchase
of 50,000 doses of the expensive preparation “factor 8.” The World
Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) will supplied the remaining necessary
quantity of the drug.

Talking to ARMINFO, Vice President of the Armenian Society of
Hemophilia David Khanzratyan said that WFH having 106 member-states
has been supplying Armenia with the preparation for blood coagulation
since 2001. According to official data, 260 sick with hemophilia reside
in Armenia, however, their real number is 190 people, as many of them
leave the country seeking better treatment, Khanzratyan says. To
fully satisfy the need of the preparation for the sick in Armenia,
150,000 doses of “factor 8” is to be purchased ( $400 per 1 dose). He
stated that a center of hemophilia and laboratory for determination of
blood coagulation factors will open in September at Yerevan Institute
of Blood Transfusion.

To note, hemophilia is a male disease, females are just carriers of
the hemophilia gene. According to the world statistics, one of 10,000
people are sick with hemophilia.