Health
Two Armenian doctors will arrive in Los Angeles next month to study pediatric transplant methods at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.
Sponsored by World Children’s Transplant Fund, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, surgeons Gegham Poghosyan and David Dallakyan will spend six months studying pediatric liver transplant techniques, which they can then apply to their work in Yerevan, Armenia. Each year, Armenian children die because of the lack of qualified physicians and specialized equipment needed to perform successful transplant surgeries, said Valerie McCaffrey, a member of the nonprofit’s board of directors. McCaffrey, who is of Armenian descent, spearheaded efforts to establish a World Childrens Transplant Fund center in Armenia, where the fund employs a full-time director who provides support to local doctors, as well as conducting awareness and fundraising campaigns.
Meanwhile, transporting the children to other countries for the procedures can expose them to other diseases and place undue stress on their already weak bodies, she said.
“The goal is to train the doctors so the kids don’t have to travel to receive these surgeries, to provide the training and technology and donor awareness in these counties,” she said.
Once the doctors complete their six-month observation and training, they will return to Armenia, where they can share their techniques with other doctors and continue to spread awareness, she said.
Harut Sassounian, president of the United Armenian Fund, a coalition of charities that send clothes, medical equipment and other items requested by residents in Armenia, said the doctors would learn valuable information to bring home to Armenia.
“The Armenian doctors are very talented and very dedicated to serving their patients; however, they need the exposure to [the West’s] latest medical systems and also the latest technology,” he said.
Tonight, the World Children’s Transplant Fund, in conjunction with the Armenian Consulate, will host a cocktail party to gather support and donations for the visiting doctors program.
They are expected to arrive next month, at which point another event will be held, organizers said.
In addition to financial donations to help support the six-month stay, McCaffrey said she hopes the community will show their moral support.
“These two doctors are coming from a foreign country,” she said. “We want to integrate their whole experience so that they receive as much help as possible.”
Source: Melanie Hicken, Glendale News Press, Click Here for Original Article
Armenia's Health Ministry today confirmed that two people have died of swine flu.
The victims were identified as a young man and a pregnant women from the town of Hrazdan by the State Hygiene and Anti-Epidemiological Inspectorate head Artavazd Vanian. The were Armenia's first to reportedly die from swine
flu.
The woman died on December 13 and the man a couple of days earlier.
An autopsy on a third man who died late last month revealed that he was not suffering from swine flu.
Authorities have so far registered 80 cases of swine flu and 26 people are currently hospitalized.
The spread of the potentially deadly virus is believed to be the main reason why the government on December 7 ordered all schools and kindergartens across the country to be closed for two weeks as "a preventive measure against all strains of influenza."
The number of infected with swine flu (A/H1N1) in Armenia reached 86 as of December 15, according to the Assistant to RA Health minister Shushan Hunanyan.
Thus, six new cases were registered in the country only within recent 24 hours. No new death or grave cases are reported, Hunanyan said. All the infected receive in-patient treatment in country’s hospitals and in Nork infectious diseases hospital as well.
Source: http://www.asbarez.com/2009/12/01/armenia-marks-world-aids-day/ (Asbarez.com)
Armenians marched through the streets of Yerevan on Tuesday to commemorate World AIDS Day and raise awareness of efforts to prevent the spread of the disease in Armenia. The march, organized by a coalition of NGOs working in Armenia, was held under the banner of breaking the cycle of indifference and discrimination toward Armenians living with HIV/AIDS.
Organizers held a press conference Tuesday to discuss their efforts and the challenges they face trying to raise awareness of the disease in Armenia.
“There are people who have done their research and they know they have the HIV virus, but they don’t take care of their health, fearing a negative reaction from the public,” explained Hovhannes Madoyan, head of the organization Real World, Real People.
Experts monitoring the spread of AIDS in Armenia warn that the number of people living with the disease in Armenia is growing faster than the development of preventive measures in the country. The disparity is largely attributed to the taboo nature of the subject in Armenia.
“There is a widely held belief in Armenia that the danger of contracting the HIV virus stems mostly from gay and lesbian people, when in reality, the virus is most often spread among heterosexual people,” said Mamikon Hovsepyan of Public Information and Need of Knowledge (PINK).
According to the Armenian Health Ministry’s Center for Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, the main method of transmission in Armenia is through intercourse between heterosexuals, while injection drug use accounts for 44 % of cases. Nearly half of the HIV/AIDS cases in Armenia are registered Yerevan.
“It is because of discrimination and intolerance, that they cannot go see a doctor or seek treatment,” he added. “In Armenia, people’s rights continue to be violated, while the accessibility of treatment continues to remain a dream.”
Treatment for the disease is limited in Armenia, as is education and awareness on preventative measures. According to experts, negative attitudes towards drug users, homosexuals, and prostitutes in Armenia prevent many people from taking advantage of free antiretroviral treatment, which can prolong an infected person’s life by many years.
The Health Ministry says that the first registered cases of the disease in Armenia came in 1988. There are currently 808 registered cases of people with HIV/AIDS in Armenia today, with 60 percent of the infected being adults ranging from 25 to 39 years old and nearly 75 percent being men. HIV/AIDS Prevention Center estimates that the real number of people infected in Armenia could be as high as 2,800.
AIDS has killed more than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007. An estimated 33.2 million people worldwide live with HIV as of 2007. Despite recent improvements in access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 2 million lives in 2007, of which about 270,000 were children.
Radio Free Europe reported today that authorities in Armenia are seeking additional supplies of the flu vaccine Tamiflu as the swine flu cases begin to mount. Although hit relatively late, Armenia has reported 11 swine flu cases with zero deaths and 5 hospitalizations.
The Armenian Health Ministry said five Armenians were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, and hospitalized on a single day last week. Currently, Armenia has about 10,000 doses of Tamiflu available but is seeking to almost triple its stock to prevent any widespread infection. Health Minister Harutiun Kushkian said last week that his ministry had ordered 20,000 more doses of Tamiflu.
Deputy Health Minister Hayk Darpinian repeated statements made by other Health Ministry officials and urged Armenians on November 13 not to succumb to "panic" about the virus.
He said the authorities are doing everything in their power to keep the H1N1 virus from spreading.
Darpinian told RFE/RL that pharmacies across Armenia have run out of Tamiflu because of panic buying caused by the swine-flu threat.
Darpinian said Kushkian has also asked Armenian drug-importing companies to "restrain" the rise in the price of Tamiflu of recent days.
Kushkian added that Armenia has asked the World Health Organization and other international agencies to accelerate the planned delivery of new H1N1 vaccines to Armenia that were originally due to arrive in January