The Situation Surrounding the HIV Center Has Little to Do with Professional Principles, Says Minister

The Armenian Minister of Health, Arsen Torosyan, addressed the recent situation surrounding the Republican Center for HIV Prevention on his Facebook page. The Minister wrote:

"In my impression, what is happening around the center has very little relation to professional principles, the struggle for individual rights, or the civil stance of the collective. There are many countries where there is no separate organization for the fight against HIV, just as there is no separate center for fighting diseases like the plague, cholera, or hepatitis C. By the way, there have been centers for combating the plague in the past, but fortunately, all of them have since been closed with the near elimination of the disease. There have also been specialized centers for combating hepatitis that have again been integrated into the overall infectious disease system.

I have repeatedly stated that no property (building or equipment) will be removed from the health care system, and no volume or quality of service will decrease, but rather it will only expand. And what the government is doing now should have been done long ago, but has not been done for various subjective and objective reasons. And now it appears that due to subjective and only subjective reasons, actions are being taken against this integration, giving rise to the establishment of our assumptions that perhaps under the motive of remaining a 'separate center', it is not a rigorous professional stance at all, but rather narrow personal interest.

I would be happy if I am mistaken and my doubts are dispelled. The collective or part of it (large or small is not significant) can prove right now whether they are guided by narrow personal or professional interests. We have shown the way to proof as well – fulfill our legal demands and work towards improving the quality and volume of services. Acting contrary to that does not fit within the frameworks of the principles cited by the collective.

The interim head of the center and we are ready to hear any suggestions from any employee and consider them in our future steps.

P.S. By the way, recently the 'National Center for the Fight Against Tuberculosis' was renamed to the 'National Center for Pulmonology', where the services provided will also be expanded. And I did not hear any accusations that we are 'dismantling' an established system, because we are not dismantling any system. We are only strengthening and expanding them, while maintaining the therapeutic practices that have proven effective until now and reforming those that have already become outdated and ineffective," Torosyan wrote.