RENOVATED DIVISION AT TB DISPENSARY

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05:13 pm | July 31, 2009 | society

>From now on, nearly 90 patients diagnosed with tuberculosis can
receive complete and ongoing medical treatment on the 2nd and 3rd
floors of the renovated state anti-tuberculosis dispensary.

The hospital, which was built during the Great Patriotic War in
1943 and was not fully constructed, was foreseen for soldiers and
only in 1962 was the building transferred to the Health Ministry,
reconstructed and adapted.

During today’s official opening ceremony of the renovated divisions,
RA Health Minister Harutyun Kushkyan mentioned that the hospital had
not been renovated for over 40 years.

The renovation was funded and implemented by the "Global Fund against
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria" and the RA Health Ministry.

Passing through the rooms of the division, the Minister was content
with the work done and expressed hope that it would be possible to
fully renovate the dispensary within two years.

Leno Abgaryan, who is an expert for nearly 60 years and deputy head
of the dispensary department Leno Abgaryan told journalists that the
number of people with tuberculosis increased after the earthquake and
the war. According to him, 18 people out of 100,000 population was
diagnosed with TB in Armenia in 1988 and in 1996 that number went up
to 67.

But in 2002, Armenia saw a decline in the number of people with
tuberculosis and based on today’s data, there are 37 patients out of
a population of 100,000. As for 2009, there are 1,480 patients and
in general, there are nearly 4,000.