Armenia intends to open center for diagnosing and treating cancer

YEREVAN, February 20. /ARKA/. Armenian Government has approved the
program of establishment of an oncology center.

Armenian Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan, presenting the project to
the Government on Thursday, said it costs about ?¬30 million, of which
19 million will be spent for installation of cyclotron radionuclide
accelerator for diagnosing and treating cancer.

He said that Belgian Government pledged ?¬17 million as preferential
credit with zero interest under guarantees.

The remaining 19 million will be attracted as private investments.

The minister said that ?¬11 million will be targeted for a clinic
diagnosing and treating cancer.
Negotiations with international organizations and private investors
interested in this project are under way now.

`New progress is expected in nuclear medicine soon, and cyclotron will
give us new opportunities in physics and other fundamental sciences’,
Yeritsyan said.

He said that it will be useful also for development of related areas,
such as pharmaceutics, nature protection and agriculture.

The minister also said that to avoid additional risks in drawing a
business plan, dealing with investors and running the program, the
Government will cooperate with Grant Thornton Amyot, audit and
consulting company.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, in his turn, said that the
establishment of20the nuclear medicine center in Armenia will be a step
toward developing the country into the regional healthcare center.

`The financing we will receive from Belgian Government will ensure
crucial development in this area’, he said adding that the program will
be implemented in cooperation with private sector.

The premier thinks that production of isotopes with using cyclotron
will change the whole healthcare area and will make it possible to
establish an up-to-international-standards center of nuclear medicine
in Armenia.

Health Minister Harutyun Kushkyan said that radionuclide is effective
for its ability to find out malignant tumors at initial stage.
He also said that radionuclide has a short-term effect.

This minimizes it negative impact on human organism. Kushkyan said CAT
scanner will be installed for early diagnostics.

According to the Health Ministry, 30,000 people suffer from cancer and
7,500 take treatments in national oncology center every year.

The cyclotron nuclear center for producing isotopes as part of the
project worked out by Yerevan institute of physics and united institute
of nuclear studies in Dubno, Russia.-0-