HIV/AIDS EXAMINATION MUST BE PART OF MEDICAL MONITORING CULTURE IN ARMENIA
Arka News Agency, Armenia
April 18 2007
YEREVAN, April 18. /ARKA/. Examination for and consultations on
HIV/AIDS must be part of medical monitoring culture, Director of the
Republican Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention Samvel Grigoryan stated at
a CIS conference on improvement of access to testing and consultation
systems.
According to him, the HIV/AIDS situation has considerably improved
in Armenia over the last ten years, and the number of examined people
has doubled. "Our present-day task is to enlarge the geographic range
of testing and consultation stations in Armenia," he said.
Grigoryan pointed out that specialists should encourage active
consultations on HIV/AIDS. "Medical specialists must provide necessary
information to the population and encourage testing among specific
risk groups," he said.
In this context, Grigoryan reported that HIV/AIDS prevention and
treatment are free in Armenia. "According to the latest data, 52
people currently receive treatment, eight of them being women and
three children," he said.
By March 1, 2007, a total of 155 testing and consultation stations had
been operating in Armenia against three in 2003. A total of 58,077
people were examined at the centers in 2006 against 49,261 in 2005
and 17,054 in 2000. In 2006, 66 HIV/AIDS cases were revealed among
the patients against 75 in 2005 and 29 in 2000.
A total of 448 HIV patients had been registered in Armenia by March 1,
2007, 32 (76.3%) of them males, 106 (23.7%) females and nine children
(2%).
Of these, 164 were diagnosed as having AIDS – 31 women, five
children. Forty-six of the cases were recorded in 2006 and 13 in 2007.
Since 1998, when the first HIV/AIDS case was recorded in Armenia, to
March 1, 2007, 104 lethal outcomes have been registered – 82 males,
19 women and three children.
The assessment of the HIV/AIDS situation in Armenia shows that the
number of HIV-infected people reaches 2,800.
The CIS conference on improvement of access to high-quality testing
and consultation as the most important condition for universal
access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, medical and social aid
to HIV/AIDS patients has been opened in Yerevan today. Among the
participants in the conference, which is to last until April 20, are
over 60 representatives of CIS countries, European states, including
Switzerland and Great Britain.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
