Gayane Avagyan: “Issues of mother and child health protection sphere continue being on the agenda”

YEREVAN, APRIL 29, ARMENPRESS: Chief specialist of the mother and child health protection department of the Armenian Healthcare Ministry Gayane Avagyan presented in an interview to “Armenpress” the works carried out in mother and child health protection sphere and the existing issues.

- How will you assess the current situation in the sphere? Are the most important issues solved?

- We have certain progress but the main issues continue being on the agenda. I will mention the most important achievements – the number of women and pregnant women applying to doctors has increased. Today in our country 91% of pregnant women at least once apply to a doctor and according to our information 70-72% applies to doctor four and more times. We consider it a progress, thought it is not enough. The problem is that we must assess not only the mechanical visits but their quality as well. For assessing the quality today we have monitoring indicators – women’s satisfaction from the medicine, pregnancy outcome – miscarriage, early birth, normal birth, pregnancy process – with difficulties, without difficulties, their timely prevention, timely medical assistance. We are working with these indicators, but to say that they fully present the situation will not be right.

We have great achievement and many painful issues which because of different reasons are considered still unsolved: for mother and child health preservation we must work uninterruptedly uniting all possible state and public forces.

- How are the pre-birth, birth assistance consultations, and medical assistance mechanisms working?

- For already two years birth assistance certificate system is functioning. It gives the pregnant women an opportunity to not only get free pre-birth medical assistance in women consultation but also give birth without thinking about payments. Women with certificate may apply to a doctor she prefers, get consultation and birth assistance at the medical establishment she wants.

- Are there free examinations of certain diseases?

- Today we have cervical carcinoma prevention national program which is unprecedented in the CIS countries. This gives a woman from 30-60 years old an opportunity to apply to women consultation and pass free examination. But the number of Armenian women applying for it is very low. Almost 90% of pregnant women, against 5-6% previously registered, passes examination for HIV too, thanks to which their infection is being revealed and its transfer to the fetus is being prevented.

- Which are the most hardly available goals of the sphere according to the annual report?

- The most painful issue here is the abortion. Firstly, there is incomplete registration of abortions. International experts say that the official information in Armenia is thrice small from the real number: it may also be seen by the demographic health research: over 47% of pregnancies ends with abortion.

- What is the reason for performing abortion?

- These are mainly unwanted pregnancies. Our women do not like contraceptives, they use traditional means – interrupted sexual relation, calendar calculations which are not effective. Before the fetus becomes 12-week old it is for woman to decide whether to perform an abortion or not. But we are against abortions in the sense that in any case it is preferable to use contraceptives.

- Is the opinion that there is no secure abortion for women grounded?

- It is difficult to give assessment. Anyway, unequivocally it would be more right to use medicine than perform abortion. Today like in the whole world, here too we are trying to make the drug abortions more extended. In the standard developed in collaboration with the World Health Organization and, which will soon be applied, there is a drug abortion as well. But here we again face the Armenian mentality: women go to pharmacies, buy tablets and use them without knowing whether they are good for them and how much to use. No matter how difficult it is to oversight, we are trying to regulate this sphere.