ArmInfo. On March 2, the NA Standing Committee on Health Care and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia held discussions on the merger of the "Republican Center  for AIDS Prevention" and the "NORK Infection Clinical Hospital".

To recall, the corresponding government decision was made on January  30.

Meanwhile, the Center is categorically against the merger, noting  that this decision poses a threat to national security, nullifying  the many years of efforts to combat HIV / AIDS.

As noted in her speech General Secretary of the RA Ministry of  Healthcare Lusine Kocharyan, as a result of the planned merger, HIV  patients will only benefit. She drew attention to the fact that their  inpatient treatment of opportunistic infections was always carried  out in Mink.

In addition, the hospital plans to improve laboratory resources, and  earlier design and calculation work was carried out in order to  repair and re-equip this medical facility. Kocharyan also noted that  the Center is equipped with modern laboratory equipment, which after  the merger will be able to access patients with diseases such as, for  example, hepatitis C.

At the same time, she assured that the merger of the Center and the  hospital would not affect the property and employees of these  institutions. According to her, it is about introducing a centralized  management system, and it will take approximately 5 months to  complete the merger process itself. Kocharyan noted that the  corresponding draft decision on the merger of the Center and the  hospital was positively evaluated by all donor organizations.  Meanwhile, as was noted, the Center takes a categorical position on  this issue, and does not comply with the written instructions of the  ministry.

Kocharyan also dispelled fears of patients with HIV-positive status,  noting that they would not receive appropriate treatment at local  clinics after the merger. As Anahit Harutyunyan, head of the  "Positive People Armenian Network" NGO, noted earlier, this prospect  was worried about this prospect because of fears of a lack of  tolerance towards them and their relatives in primary care  facilities. Meanwhile, as it turned out, a number of Center employees  in protest against the merger with Mink wrote letters of resignation.  As the former head of the epidemiological surveillance department of  the Center Arshak Papoyan stated, there are a number of obvious  inaccuracies in substantiating the government decision. So, he drew  attention to the fact that every year in the Center about 700-800  people receive preventive treatment to prevent the development of  opportunistic infections. As regards the fact that HIV / AIDS  patients seek treatment at Nork, in fact, as Papoyan noted, in  addition to Nork, the treatment is provided, in particular, by the  Hematology Center and the National Oncology Center. Meanwhile, this  circumstance did not lead to their merger with the AIDS Prevention  Center.

The expert also drew attention to the fact that 400-500 new cases of  HIV are detected annually in Armenia, and therefore it would be more  advisable not to weaken the Center through a merger, but rather to  increase its capacity.  Arshak Asmaryan, the former head of the  Center's medical care and services department, has a similar opinion,  noting that to strengthen preventive measures it would be enough to  go not by merging, but to introduce an HIV test in all medical  institutions as a routine laboratory test method.  To recall, earlier  Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan commented on the decision to  merge the Center and the Nork hospital, promising that this decision  would not entail a staff reduction. According to him, scientific  achievements and modern international approaches in the fight against  AIDS indicate that this issue should be integrated into the national  health system. As was noted, the need for separate institutions  dealing with the problem of AIDS existed about 40 years ago, when the  acquired immunodeficiency syndrome was only detected.