Where is Arsen Torosyan? The Minister was Sought in Parliament

On December 9, the parliament discussed a bill on reducing and preventing the health damage caused by the use of tobacco products and their substitutes, authored by the government. Members of parliament pointed out numerous shortcomings and omissions in the bill.

From the 'My Step' faction, Lusine Badalyan remarked that she knows, with her non-medical knowledge, what rheumatoid arthritis is: "But what do rheumatoid arthritis and diseases of the endocrine system have to do with tobacco use? It shouldn’t be overstated," she said.

From the LHK, Gevorg Gorgisyan noted, "I never smoked, I am not smoking, and I do not intend to smoke. But if we are discussing a law, then we must look at it from all sides. We received some piece of paper with pretty words written on it, but no numbers. Yes, smoking is a bad thing; there is an age after which doctors encourage smoking because the lack of nicotine causes health problems. My father died of lung cancer. When he tried to quit smoking after 60, he developed health issues, and doctors advised him to continue smoking," G. Gorgisyan pointed out.

From the same faction, Ani Samsonyan cited statistics, according to which Russia, which has a legislative ban on smoking, ranks first in terms of the number of cigarettes per capita, while in the USA, where there is no such law, the number of smokers decreases year by year.

Parliament Vice President Alen Simonian insisted that experience has shown that when smoking is prohibited, the number of smokers declines. "We must reach the goal of having a smoke-free Armenia in 5-10 years," he asserted.

During the discussion of the bill, the opposition LHK faction was looking for Health Minister Arsen Torosyan. "Where is Arsen Torosyan, who was the most active lobbyist for this bill?" asked Ani Samsonyan. It should be noted that the bill was presented by the Deputy Minister of Health, Lena Nanushyan.