YEREVAN, Armenia – On October 25, 2018, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Republic of Armenia (RA), in collaboration with the Turpanjian School of Public Health (SPH) of the American University of Armenia (AUA), organized the third discussion in a series of public discussions with the community of health professionals. The discussion focused on strengthening public health.
RA Deputy Minister of Health Lena Nanushyan, MD, MPH, moderated the event. She emphasized the importance of implementation of need-based public health programs that would allow prevention of diseases at the onset and would deliver effective interventions to build a healthier society in Armenia. According to Dr. Nanushyan, espousal of this approach will directly contribute to the more efficient and targeted allocation of scarce public resources.
At the moment, MoH is mobilizing its efforts to battle the high prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Armenia. Given the fact that tobacco use is a major contributor to the three leading causes of death in the WHO European region, tobacco control and smoking cessation programs are at the top of the Armenian public health agenda for the current and upcoming years.
Many public health and medical professionals from different institutions participated in this public discussion. They asked questions and shared opinions on potential solutions to identified public health problems. The next public discussion will take place in November.
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.
