No State Order Funds for Children: 'Zhoghovurd'

One of the officials in the state system who drafts and approves one law per day confirmed yesterday in the National Assembly that the consistency of the laws issued and the availability of information about them are at a zero level. This is reported by the newspaper 'Zhoghovurd'.

“Yesterday, during the discussion of the draft law on ratifying the loan agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the Asian Development Bank regarding the 'Health Quality Improvement Program', a question was posed by MP Arusyak Manavazyan regarding an issue related to the deputy minister of health, Lena Nanushyan, during her regional visits: ‘Do we have an issue with state orders or not?’

‘I am not aware of any problems regarding state orders; they are functioning. If there is a problem, let us know. We do not have issues related to the implementation of state orders. In any case, I am not informed,’ replied Nanushyan.

Manavazyan, not wanting to put the deputy minister in a bad position, tried not to emphasize her ignorance and sidestepped the question, which was not accepted by Edgar Hakobyan, another MP from the ruling party.

A relative of Prime Minister Anna Hakobyan presented to the deputy minister through their own example the problems regarding the provision of state orders. ‘Ms. Nanushyan, you said you are not informed whether there is an issue, but I believe there is. My 5-year-old son was operated on abroad a month ago. Then there was an urgent issue related to a fracture which required medical intervention, and it became complicated. In short, the hospital said there is no state order. I had the ability to make that payment, and I did, but I believe there is a problem. I do not know what our fellow compatriots from socially vulnerable backgrounds should do in such a case. I was told to wait in line, but the doctor said it was urgent, that immediate intervention was needed, and if I waited, it would take almost a month for our turn to arrive, which I believe is not normal,’ concluded Hakobyan.

The deputy minister tried to justify herself, stating that being placed on a waiting list is a normal phenomenon, that this is an international practice, and they are working on ensuring that there is no problem in the system regarding the provision of urgent state orders.

Hakobyan insisted that he personally spoke with doctors, who informed him that since last Monday, there have been no state orders. He even expressed his willingness to provide the contact number of the medical institution and the doctor.

‘Maybe something is being reported to you incorrectly. In any case, I think we need to follow up on this issue. For example, if minors need any medical assistance, it turns out that if they don’t have any money, nothing should be done in practice,’ he noted.

The deputy minister again justified herself, laying the blame on the medical institution or stating, ‘I may not be fully informed because I was not briefed on these issues before coming here.’

However, she should have been informed at least before coming there. In a normal country, uninformed officials are immediately removed from their positions.

The funds provided through state orders have not run out, but the ‘quota has been exhausted’, stated Samvel Khrazyan, head of the State Health Agency, in an interview with the newspaper. The reason for the exhaustion, it turns out, has been the high number of applications. Many have applied, and by the 8th month, for instance, the funds for state orders granted to minors have already been exhausted.

Thus, it should be noted that the Government does not provide state orders for children, even though there is an urgent need. This is besides the fact that the uninformed deputy minister is blaming others instead of better studying the problems in her sector,” the newspaper writes.