The National Center for Pulmonology Merges with the National Center for Infectious Diseases

At the suggestion of the Ministry of Health of Armenia, the National Center for Pulmonology will merge with the National Center for Infectious Diseases. The decision was made at today's government meeting.

According to the justification of the draft decision, the incidence and mortality rates of tuberculosis have significantly decreased in recent decades, reaching 13.5 and 0.84 per 100,000 population respectively in 2023 (excluding HIV-positive TB mortality). As a result, the bed capacity of the National Center for Pulmonology is underutilized. Parallel efforts have also been made to implement patient-centered treatment mechanisms, improving access to services for tuberculosis patients, which are now also provided in outpatient settings.

“Despite the overall decrease in mortality rates, the proportion of drug-resistant tuberculosis and TB-HIV co-infection has remained almost unchanged both globally and in Armenia, with a treatment success rate for TB in 2023 reaching 84%, while the rate for TB-HIV co-infection did not exceed 68%. The increase in HIV detection indicates that cases of TB-HIV co-infection may also rise,” the draft indicates.