Fetal medicine center to open in Armenia - ministry of health

YEREVAN, June 1. /ARKA/. A fetal medicine center will be set up in Armenia to provide care for pregnant women, including surgeries on the fetus in the womb.

Armen Melkonyan, head of the international relations department at the Armenian Health Ministry, said to a press conference on Wednesday that creation of the center stems from a memorandum of understanding signed by the Armenian Health Ministry, the Greek Foreign Ministry and the Fetal Medicine Foundation in November 2022.

He said the main mission of the center will be to stimulate specialized care for pregnant women and minimize maternal and child morbidity and mortality.

Melkonyan noted that four specialists arrived in Armenia from Greece on May 21-22 for training local personnel.

"The Greek side donated two powerful modern ultrasound scanning machines, which are installed in the Department of Fetal Medicine," he said.

Nane Mnatsakanyan, paediatrician from the Mother and Child Healthcare Department of the Health Ministry, said that the establishment of the center began with the training of specialists, and to that end, 2 experts from Armenia will go to the UK for retraining.

"The pilot center, to be set up in the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center in Yerevan will provide more comprehensive services and will deal directly with the health of the fetus,' she said.

Karen Julakyan, the hHead of the Obstetrics Department at Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center, said that the fetal medicine center will focus also on training quality personnel. They will not only perform perinatal diagnostics, but also introduce a fetal surgery, which is something currently missing in Armenia.

"The opening of the center will give an opportunity to increase the survival rate of babies with diseases in utero, reduce morbidity and provide babies with a healthy and happy life," he said. -0-