Thursday, September 3 2020 15:07

ArmInfo.The <National Center for Infectious Diseases> presented projects for the upcoming work. It should be reminded that this Center was formed following the merger of the Republican AIDS Prevention Center and the Nork Clinical  Infectious Diseases Hospital.

As Acting Director of the Center Hovhannes Madoyan said at a press  conference on September 3, the newly created body will deal not only  with the treatment of infectious diseases, but also with the  elimination (reduction of the incidence of a certain form of  infection to zero) of certain diseases. According to him, at the  moment, work is underway on the general concept, and some directions  have already been identified. An important result of the merger  Madoyan called the unification of efforts to prevent and overcome  transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis from mother to child.  Thus, Armenia's successful experience in preventing mother-to-child  transmission of HIV will be extended to preventive measures for other  diseases.

Presenting the ongoing and planned work, Madoyan conditionally  designated the Center as two buildings:  the Nork building (the  infectious diseases hospital) and the Avan building (the Republican  Center for AIDS Prevention). At the moment, repair work is underway  in "Nork". Thus, the renovation of the fifth building (the former  department for adults) is nearing completion, and the repair of the  sixth building (the former department for military personnel) is  approaching the final stage. Madoyan recalled that since March,  "Nork" has been redesigned exclusively for the treatment of patients  with coronavirus; in addition, there is also a triage center (triage  of patients).

According to him, an oxygen station for the needs of patients with  COVID-19 has opened today in Nork. In addition, it is planned to  build a new modernized building, which will connect buildings A and  B. It is also planned to build a laboratory building. Madoyan  informed that the corresponding design work has already been  completed.

According to the acting director, on average, Nork receives and  discharges 30 patients daily, approximately 70-80 patients are  constantly being treated for coronavirus in it. Madoyan also said  that "Nork", with the assistance of the RA Ministry of High-Tech  Industry, is carrying out research work on COVID-19.

As for the Avan building, it continues to be engaged in dispensary  control over HIV patients, conducting appropriate tests and other  functions. Madoyan noted that the news of the merger of the two  medical facilities misled some patients, who mistakenly thought that  the Republican AIDS Prevention Center was no longer operational. In  fact, as noted, the center continues its usual activities. It also  continues to implement joint programs and research with international  partners, including Rossotrudnichestvo. Madoyan also said that the  Avan building will become the main base for the implementation of the  state program for the treatment of Hepatitis C.

Earlier, the RA Ministry of Health noted that the merger of the two  medical institutions is aimed at ensuring the safety and quality and  availability of services for patients. Thus, international experience  shows that the main causes of death among people living with HIV are  opportunistic diseases arising in the AIDS stage, mainly of an  infectious nature (tuberculosis, severe bacterial infections,  cryptococcal meningitis, toxoplasmosis, pneumocystis pneumonia,  hepatitis C), and also malignant neoplasms. The management of other  infections accompanying people with HIV creates a difficult situation  for clinics involved in the entire chain of treatment and patient  care. Meanwhile, according to the data of the Joint United Nations  Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS), international experience shows that  integrated management is more effective and helps to remove patients  from isolation, as well as reduce stigma and discrimination. Back in  2019, according to the results of an assessment carried out by the  World Health Organization (WHO) mission to Armenia, it was proposed  to decentralize the HIV diagnostic service.

At the beginning of the year, the decision to merge with Nork drew  sharp criticism from the Republican Center for AIDS Prevention, but  tensions subsided after Nork became the first hospital in Armenia to  be redesigned to treat patients with coronavirus. Over the past  months, the capacity of "Nork" has been strengthened and, in  particular, a separate module has been built for persons with  suspected coronavirus.