Blood Storage in Armenia Remains at 1947 Level; New Blood Bank to Be Constructed

In 2023, a new blood bank is set to be constructed in Armenia with modern building conditions and international state-of-the-art equipment. This decision was made during today’s session of the Armenian government. Based on a proposal from the Ministry of Health, the government will co-finance the project. For this purpose, 80 million AMD has been allocated from the 2022 state budget.

Additionally, approximately 150 million AMD will be allocated next year during the project implementation. Another source of funding is the “Jinishian Memorial Foundation,” which has expressed willingness to support the creation of the new blood bank with around 600,000 USD equivalent to 237 million AMD.

The construction contract was awarded to the company “Shin,” which presented a bid of 554 million AMD. The total estimated cost of the project, including the acquisition of modern technology, is around 668,101,400 AMD.

The R.O. Yolian Blood Center was established on March 17, 1947, by a special decision of the Council of Ministers of Soviet Armenia.

The government’s decision notes that while the center has expanded its clinical operations over the years, in terms of blood and component collection and storage, it has remained essentially in the same state. Studies conducted by the Ministry of Health as early as 2018 showed that the regional infrastructures responsible for blood collection are in very poor condition; notably, the absolute majority do not meet the established standards concerning building, equipment, and sanitary norms.

To resolve the mentioned issues, the government decision from April 23, 2020, envisioned integrating regional subdivisions of the blood service from Hrazdan, Armavir, Lori, Gyumri, and Syunik into the Yolian Blood Center with a perspective for further development. However, this decision has not been implemented because the building conditions in Yerevan do not allow for the requisite quantities of blood and its components to be stored and preserved adequately. Therefore, there is a pressing need to create new structural and technical conditions for the required storage and quality preservation of blood and its components.