ARMENIAN HEALTH OFFICIAL CONCERNED OVER LOW NATURAL GROWTH
12:42 * 12.09.14
Natural growth in Armenia has decreased by 4.5 times since the 1990s,
with the birth rate being almost twice down, a healthcare official
said today, expressing concerns over the population statistics.
In a speech at the conference Family, Society and Church (held at the
Holy See of Ecmhiadzin), Head of the Healthcare Ministry’s Maternity
and Reproductive Health Department Gayane Avagyan said the trend is
likely to cut the country’s population in half by 2030 against the
backdrop of a surge in the neighboring states.
“This is really a challenge everybody has to pay attention to,” she
said, pointing out to an alarming birth statistics. “We do not even
have a simple reproduction in the country.”
Speaking about abortions, Avagyan said their number has seen a tenfold
increase in the past decade; she attributed the trend to the advanced
technologies that help timely detect fetal diseases and disorders As
for sex-selective abortions, the healthcare official said they are now
elaborating a concept aimed at concealing the fetus’ sex from parents.
As another concern, the specialist pointed out to the infertility
rate, which she said has twice increased in the country in the past
ten years.