American University of Armenia (AUA) Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health’s (SPH) Zvart Avedisian Onanian Center for Health Services Research and Development (CHSR) Senior Researcher Arusyak Harutyunyan (MPH ’09), Research Assistants Armine Abrahamyan (MPH ’15), Zaruhi Grigoryan (MPH ’15), and Varduhi Hayrumyan (MPH ’16) were competitively selected to participate and present during the second annual conference of the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP) International Conference on Tobacco Control 2017 in Athens, Greece from May 24-26. Themed “Bridging science and policy for better tobacco control strategies”, the conference aimed to share valuable information and practices, as well as providing delegates with a space to meet and network with like-minded colleagues.
Within the scope of the ENSP conference two oral presentations were delivered on the results of the “Implementing WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 14 in Armenia through Building National Capacity in Smoking Cessation Training” project.
- “Discrepancy between primary healthcare physicians’ attitude and practice in providing smoking cessation” authored by Arusyak Harutyunyan, Armine Abrahamyan, Varduhi Hayrumyan, and Varduhi Petrosyan.
- “Missed opportunities for smoking cessation counseling in primary healthcare settings: a qualitative study in Armenia” authored by Armine Abrahamyan, Arusyak Harutyunyan, and Varduhi Petrosyan.
Arusyak Harutyunyan and Varduhi Hayrumyan were invited as guest speakers for the “Tobacco Cessation-Health professionals and IT communication” and “Tobacco cessation guidelines for high-risk groups (TOB-G) and tobacco dependence treatment in special populations” round table discussions. Dr. Harutyunyan delivered two talks entitled “Making treatment available and affordable” and “Tobacco and Tuberculosis: Two Global Epidemics”. During the later round table discussion, Ms. Hayrumyan delivered a talk on “Treating tobacco dependence in myocardial infarction patients” (co-authored by Dr. Harutyunyan).
Ms. Hayrumyan also presented her master thesis project entitled “The use of five “A’s” tobacco cessation strategy among patients hospitalized for myocardial infarction in Armenia” co-authored by Drs. Arusyak Harutyunyan and Tsovinar Harutyunyan. Zaruhi Grigoryan made a poster presentation “To what extent the National Tuberculosis Control center in Armenia follows the smoke-free standards and policies”co-authored by Lusine Musheghyan, Arusyak Harutyunyan, Nune Truzyan, and Varduhi Petrosyan. All abstracts were published in the Journal Tobacco Prevention and Cessation 2017, Volume 3, May Supplement.
As the Principal Investigator of the projects, Arusyak Harutyunyan participated in the Global Bridges Grantee workshop and EuroPean Accreditation Curriculum on Tobacco Treatment project meeting.
In 2016, SPH became a full member of the ENSP. The ENSP has been active in tobacco control since 1997 and for the last 20 years has played an important role in setting and influencing policies at a European and international level. The ENSP is the only truly pan-European network active in tobacco control being the key grassroots organization in implementing the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) at a European level. As a representative of SPH, Arusyak Harutyunyan participated in the ENSP General Assembly meeting.
The ENSP Conference was important opportunity for professional development by enriching with the latest developments in the field of tobacco control, strengthening capacity for tobacco cessation and meetings with researchers and activists working in tobacco control.
The AUA Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of public health professionals to be leaders in public health, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.
