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During the parliamentary debates of 2017 state budget MP Vahe Hovhannisyan noted that there are some branches in medicine that have registered serous progress, but there are some branches that are in poor conditions, namely it refers to oncology.

“We ask this question to different MPs only to listen that a Center of Excellence is being created, which seems to be the North-South road: it has no end. Another solution is to be applied to this issue, we cannot wait forever. Eventually when will it be possible to provide quality treatment in Armenia?” MP noted.

Minister of Health Levon Altunyan noted that a second and third centers of excellence can be established in Armenia, but if the number of primary tumor diagnosis increases other methods are to be applied to settle the issue. “The methods of prevention of non-infectious diseases are currently developing worldwide. With little money at hand it is possible to prevent primary diseases, like diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Levon Altunyan stressed that a healthy lifestyle presupposes giving up smoking and using alcoholic drinks, consuming heathy food and boosting physical activeness. According to him in Finland the death cases as a result of cardiovascular diseases have been decreased by 3.2 percent in 25 years merely by reducing the amount of salt in meal. He added that in Armenia an offer has been made to drastically increase the tobacco price.

MP Mkrtich Minasyan also turned to the issue of oncology by noting that in Armenia people with cancer sell their houses to go to abroad and receive treatment.

“The state must undertake measures so that people are able to receive the same treatment in their homeland by spending less money. Moreover if our doctors have the appropriate equipment at hand they can provide with quality treatment,” MP said.

Levon Altunyan agreed that people in fact sell their houses to receive treatment in abroad, as the cancer treatment costs 50-250 thousand euros there.

“In Armenia that treatment is provided free of charge. If any Armenian citizen paid 20-30 thousand euros for the treatment of oncological diseases in Armenia the situation would be completely different now. We try to do it for free of charge, but we have what we have now. We don’t make people sell their houses, cars, change their places of residence. The state is making efforts to provide a free treatment,” Levon Altunyan noted.