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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, July 10, 2006

AGBU DISTRIBUTES 10 ULTRASOUND MACHINES TO ARMENIA AND KARABAKH
HOSPITALS

On July 3, 2006, AGBU distributed 10 ultrasound machines to nine
medical facilities in Armenia and a newly built clinic in Karabakh’s
capital, Stepanakert, to ensure that Armenian hospitals are equipped
with state-of-the-art diagnostic tools.

After Armenia’s independence in 1991, AGBU began financing a number
of long-term educational, cultural, and humanitarian projects in the
country, including the AGBU Ultrasound Training Center at Yerevan State
Medical University in 2000, which was established in collaboration with
Jefferson Ultrasound Research and Education Institute of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Levon Nazarian, MD, Professor of Radiology and Vice
Chairman for Education at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, led
the initiative with financing provided by Nazar Nazarian, AGBU Vice
Chairman and Treasurer. The success of the AGBU Ultrasound Center
is attested by the fact that more than 100 specialists have already
been trained there, including individuals from as far away as India
and Russia. The Global Ultrasound Equipment Donation Foundation,
headed by Barry B. Goldberg, MD, Professor of Radiology and Director
of Ultrasound at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, donated the
ultrasound machines.

"These machines cannot serve their goal without trained
specialists. That is why before giving the machines to the hospitals,
all specialists operating them completed training courses at the
AGBU Ultrasound Training Center. Thanks to the efforts of Professors
Andreas Hambardzumian and Hmayak Sissakian, Co-Directors of the AGBU
Ultrasound Center, doctors learn modern diagnostic methods at the
university. Many specialists then take their knowledge to different
regions around Armenia and Karabakh. We highly value the fact that,
in the distant regions of Armenia and Karabakh, people will have
the opportunity to make use of the services provided by these
ultra-modern machines. I hope that chief doctors will support the
trained specialists by providing all the necessary conditions for
utilizing the new machines to make correct and timely diagnoses,"
said Gohar Kalian, Rector of the Medical University.

Each machine costs $20,000 and diagnoses many abdominal, gynecological
and heart diseases. In deciding which hospitals would receive
the machines, the organizers took into consideration the number
of patients treated at each hospital and the diagnostic equipment
available. Research showed that hospitals in Karabakh and southern
Armenia do not have echocardiography machines and institutions in
those regions were given special consideration.

The 10 ultrasound machines have been allocated to the newly built
clinic of Stepanakert, hospitals in Kapan and Goris, the Central
Military Hospital of the Republic of Armenia’s Defense Ministry,
Yolian Hematology Center, St. Nersess the Great Scientific-Medical
Center, the Oncology Center, and Clinic #1 of Yerevan State Medical
University. The AGBU Ultrasound Training Center will receive the
remaining two machines.

AGBU is the largest Armenian nonprofit organization in the world. It
promotes the Armenian heritage through educational, cultural,
humanitarian, and media projects. For more information on AGBU,
please visit