In 20 years number of cancer patients doubled in Armenia (video)
In recent 20 years the number of cancer patients in Armenia doubled. In 2012, 240 out of 100 000 people suffered from cancer, according to the predictions, in 2022 the number of cancer patients will increase by 10 000. 80% of the patients suffer from the pain, which is above average. Rachel Denber, Deputy Director of the Europe and Central Asia Division of the Human Rights Watch international human rights organization, notes, “Palliative care will alleviate the severe and horrible pain of thousands of people. In many cases the impossibility of treatment discourages the people and in this case they will get rid of the pain for a short time. Palliative care is also one of the priorities of Human Rights Watch.” Armenia, according to the human rights defender, is among those countries, which have strict approach towards this issue, to the detriment of the cancer patients, “Armenia is among the countries, which have the strictest regulations in terms of using palliative medicine. In 2009 some legislative regulations were carried out, but they strictly limit the usage of morphine and opium medications, which are the most important part of palliative care,” notes Rachel Denber. Giorgi Gogia, senior South Caucasus researcher at Human Rights Watch, considers such strict regulations by the RA authorities to be the result of careful policy. “We have met with the different representatives of the authorities and the Minister of Healthcare, but their carefulness is also connected with the desire to keep the situation under control. The main concern is connected with the emergence of illegal drug market.”
