Author: Chmshkian Vicken

The Rising Cost of Poor Azeri Healthcare
By Chloe Arnold
Moscow Times
May 25 2004
BAKU, Azerbaijan — To look at the row of boutique shops that just
opened round the corner from my house, selling Versace shirts, Armani
suits and Manolo Blahnik shoes at crippling prices, you’d never guess
that Azerbaijan has an infant mortality rate similar to some of the
poorest countries in Africa.
In fact, more babies die in Azerbaijan every year than in any country
in the former Soviet Union, bar Turkmenistan. For every 1,000 children
born here, 74 will die before their first birthday as compared to
just five in Britain, 18 in Russia and 79 in Senegal.
It’s a shocking figure by anyone’s standards, and more than double
the rate of its former Soviet neighbors Georgia and Armenia, with 24
and 30 infant deaths per 1,000 births respectively.
And it doesn’t seem to make sense. The wealth per capita here is
far greater than in many former Soviet states thanks to the flood of
foreign investors eager to get their hands on the country’s oil.
True, it’s not Kuwait, and the government is not rolling in money.
But neither is it sub-Saharan Africa. They should have enough income
from the export of their crude oil to be able to fund a decent public
health service.
So why are the levels of infant mortality so high? One explanation is
Azerbaijan’s refugee population. Hundreds of thousands of people who
fled the war with Armenia in the early 1990s now live in miserable
camps, which are breeding grounds for diseases like malaria.
But there is another reason. According to a report by UNICEF, the
United Nations children’s fund, part of the reason for Azerbaijan’s
high infant mortality rate is “the declining quality and rising cost
of public healthcare services.”
The key phrase here is the “rising cost” of health services. You see,
in Azerbaijan healthcare is supposed to be free. But, of course,
it isn’t. My Azeri friends tell me that if you go to the doctor,
you have to slip him a few crisp notes before he will even let you
into his consulting room.
What this means is that the poorest families can no longer afford to
get proper treatment. Women give birth at home, or they save up to
go to hospital, but cannot pay if there are complications.
Of course, Azerbaijan is famous for its high levels of corruption. In
international surveys of graft it comes out near the top and ranks
along other champions of corruption like Nigeria and Bangladesh.
No one expects bribery and corruption here to disappear — it’s
simply a part of life. But when babies are dying in critically high
numbers because their parents can’t afford to pay for basic treatment,
perhaps the government needs to sit up and take notice.
Chloe Arnold is a freelance journalist based in Baku, Azerbaijan.

CIS states study possibility of joining efforts on air defense
Associated Press Worldstream
May 21, 2004 Friday
YEREVAN, Armenia — Twelve former Soviet republics are studying the
possibility of creating a united system of air defense to protect
the region, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Friday.
“This is a vital system, and it has proved so in exercises held
recently,” Ivanov said in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, which hosted
a meeting of defense ministers from the Commonwealth of Independent
States.
He gave no further details.
The CIS, comprised of 12 former Soviet republics, was set up after
the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union to encourage cooperation between
the countries. However, those efforts have largely been hamstrung by
regional squabbles and fears of Russian domination.
Ivanov said that the ministers also discussed ways to expand military
technological cooperation and upcoming military exercises. In August,
the CIS militaries are planning exercises in the Central Asian nations
of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Ivanov said.

PRESS OFFICE
ARMENAN CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA WESTERN DIOCESE
3325 North Glenoaks blvd.
Burbank, CA 91504
Tel: (818) 558-7474
Fax: (818) 558-6333
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
May 21, 2004
COMMUNIQUE
SERIES OF LECTURES AND EVENTS
WITHIN THE WESTERN DIOCESE
Upon the decision and special arrangements of His Eminence
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese of the
Armenian Church of North America, the following events and series of
lectures will take place in the Western Diocesan Headquarters, as part
of the “Tarkmanchats Lsaran”:
A) Beginning in September 2004, a two year curriculum has
been organized for candidates into the Order of Priesthood, that
includes the following subjects relating to the Armenian Church and the
Armenian Religious culture:
Biblical Studies
History of the Armenian Church
Pastoral Theology
Armenian Liturgy and its Theology
Sermon and Preaching
Universal Church Fathers
Armenian Religious Literature
Monasticism and Christian Spirituality
History of Armenian Monasticism
Armenian Monastic Spirituality
History of Armenian Religious Art
Armenian Historiography and
Ideology of Armenian Identity
Classical Armenian or Grabar
B) On October 20, 21, 22, 2004, a three-day Conference will be
held, strictly for the clergy of the Western Diocese. Deacons will also
be present. Over the course of the three days prayers will take place,
as well as four lectures per day (a total of 12 lectures), which will
cover theological, ecclesiastical, spiritual, pastoral, executive,
ethical, social, instructional and various other religious topics.
C) Beginning in October 2004, another series of lectures will begin
in the evenings, which will be open to the public. These lectures will
take place ONCE A MONTH and will include a series of presentations
dedicated to the Bible, as well as topics relating to religion,
ecclesiastics, history of the church, ethics and the Armenian religious
culture,
D) In October, 2004 on the occasion of the 1600th anniversary of
the CREATION OF THE ARMENIAN ALPHABET, a three-day event will be held at
the Diocesan Headquarters, titled “THE ARMENIAN BOOK” which will
underscore the importance and significance of the Armenian Book in our
personal and ethnic lives. At the same time a book sale will take place.
This event will be open to the public.
Very Rev. Dajad Dz. Vartabed Yardemian is in charge of the
abovementioned events.
The exact dates will be published in due time.
DIVAN OF THE DIOCESE
May 19, 2004
Burbank, California

ARKA News Agency
May 20 2004
RA Government members receive social security cards
Robert Kocharian signs decree on approval of presidential premium in
the field of physical training and sport
RA NA Speaker receives OSCE Parliament Assembly Chairman
An exhibition – sale to take place in the museum of national art of
Armenia on May 22-27
*********************************************************************
RA GOVERNMENT MEMBERS RECEIVE SOCIAL SECURITY CARDS
YEREVAN, May, 20. /ARKA/. RA Government members received social
security cards today. The cards to the ministers were handed by RA
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Aghvan Vardanian personally. He
said that with the implementation of social security cards’ system it
is planned to ease the process of provision of relief, pensions,
salary and other social payments to the citizens. All of this,
according to him, will allow raising budget comings in account of
black sector of economy and will contribute to process of tax
gathering. L.D. –0–
*********************************************************************
ROBERT KOCHARIAN SIGNS DECREE ON APPROVAL OF PRESIDENTIAL PREMIUM IN
THE FIELD OF PHYSICAL TRAINING AND SPORT
YEREVAN, May, 20. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharian signed decree
on approval of presidential premium in the field of physical training
and sport, RA President’s press office told ARKA. Following premiums
will be instituted: Best Sports Community, Best Sports Court, Best
Sports Family. The Committee on physical training and sport is
assigned to chose the candidates, determine the place and time of
contests. L.D. –0–
*********************************************************************
RA NA SPEAKER RECEIVES OSCE PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLY CHAIRMAN
YEREVAN, May, 20. /ARKA/. RA NA Speaker Arthur Baghdasarian received
OSCE Parliament Assembly Chairman Bruce George, RA NA told ARKA. The
parties discussed problems of activation of the dialogue between OSCE
and Armenia in the issues of eurointegration, noted the importance of
practical participation of Armenia in development and signing of
Caucasus Stability Pact. Besides the parties noted the importance of
creation of Parliament Assembly of South Caucasus countries.
According to press release, George expressed his support to all
mentioned initiatives and invited Armenian Speaker to take part in
oncoming sitting of OSCE.
Arthur Baghdasarian takes part in regular summit of the chairmen of
Assembly of European Parliaments in Strasbourg. L.D. –0–
*********************************************************************
AN EXHIBITION -SALE TO TAKE PLACE IN THE MUSEUM OF NATIONAL ART OF
ARMENIA ON MAY 22-27
YEREVAN, May, 20. /ARKA/. An exhibition -sale of embroidery by three
Armenians from Canada to take place in the museum of national art of
Armenia on May 22-27. According to Hayastan All-Armenian Foundation,
the means gains from the sales will be send to the fund for
construction of North-South highway (NKR).
Hayastan All-Armenian Foundation was created on March 3, 1992 by
degree of the first president of Republic of Armenia Levon
Ter-Petrossian. Creation of the structure was conditioned by flow of
humanitarian aid from Armenians all over the world to help in
development of newly created Republic of Armenia and Artsakh. The
foundation includes all the basic church, political, charity
organizations, prominent figures and benefactors. The Board of
Trustees includes 30 persons.
The investments into the Hayastan Pan-Armenian Foundation amounted to
$80 mln. Within the 11 years of its activities, the Foundation’s
investments volume made $ 85 mln. A.H.–0–
*********************************************************************

HENRY’S GOLD RUSH
by NEIL MARTIN
Daily Star
May 20, 2004
THIERRY HENRY is set to complete a sensational season by claiming
the European Golden Boot this weekend.
The French striker has already topped the Premiership scoring chart
after netting 30 league goals as Arsenal won the title with an amazing
unbeaten record.
And he is almost sure to take the European award. Ailton Concalves
needs a hat-trick for Werder Bremen against Hansa Rostock to pip him.
The European Golden Boot is now based on a weighted system with goals
in the best leagues worth two points each, compared to just one point
apiece in smaller competitions.
Although Ara Hakobyan has scored 45 goals for FC Banants in Armenia,
Henry tops the charts with 60 points ahead of Concalves on 56 and AC
Milan’s Andrei Shevchenko on 48.
Henry has already been voted PFA and Barclaycard Player of the Year.
He will miss collecting the Football Writers’ Association award in
London tonight as he is on duty with France.

Abelyan’s verbal swipe at Harrison
JIM BLACK May 20 2004
The Herald, UK
May 20 2004
William Abelyan, the WBO featherweight title challenger, loosed off a
verbal salvo at champion Scott Harrison yesterday in a clear attempt
to spice up next month’s bout at Glasgow’s Braehead Arena.
If Abelyan is to be believed, 26-year-old Harrison is constructing a
smokescreen by declaring that he will give his rival a “hammering” in
response to the Armenian’s earlier boast that he will “cook” the
Glaswegian on June 19.
Abelyan, 25, accused Harrison of “talking big and running scared”
before adding: “Harrison has got a big mouth and I am going to shut
it for him. The boxing ring is my house and Harrison is not welcome.
“I’ve read what he’s been saying and he’s talking a lot of garbage.
He’s scared and that’s why he’s talking big. But we will see if he’s
talking just as big when he’s face-to-face with me.”
The pair were originally scheduled to begin hostilities in March, but
Abelyan was forced to call-off after sustaining a hand injury during
his final sparring session at his Las Vegas training camp.
No sooner had the promoters, Sports Network, rescheduled the bout for
May 29 than Harrison damaged a bicep in is left arm while doing
pull-ups in the gym, necessitating a further delay.
Abelyan, though, insists that he has not been inconvenienced. “I’m
ready to fight Harrison right now,” he said. “If my team told me that
we were going to Scotland tomorrow I would jump straight on to the
plane because I have never been more up for a fight than this one.”
Abelyan, who moved with his parents to California from Yerevan at the
age of nine, has pledged to make an emotional homecoming once he is
champion. “I wanted to achieve something special before returning as
a hero,” he said.

Armenia wants to continue negotiations with Azerbaijan
Interfax
May 18 2004
Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armenia thinks it necessary to continue
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement negotiations with Azerbaijan, its Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanian told a press conference in Yerevan on Monday.
“We believe in the efficiency of negotiations, including meetings
between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents. We think it is still
possible to find common approaches to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement,”
the minister said.
“It is not yet clear for Armenia whether Azerbaijani is ready to
provide for the succession of the negotiations and confirm the
commitments approved by the late president Heydar Aliyev,” Oskanian
said.
The Azerbaijani initiative on opening transport routes in exchange
for the return of Azerbaijani lands currently under Karabakh control
is unacceptable for Armenia, the minister said.

Opinions on 10 years of Azerbaijan, Armenia cease-fire – paper
Ayna, Baku
12 May 04
The fighting on the Azerbaijani and Armenian contact line was suspended
on 12 May 1994. Prior to this day, the Bishkek protocol was signed
in Kyrgyz capital between Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Azerbaijani
and Armenian communities of Nagornyy Karabakh.
[Passage omitted: war figures]
We wonder, how did Azerbaijan benefit from the 10-year truce period?
Respondents’ answers to this question vary.
An employee of the Defence Ministry press service, Capt Ilqar Verdiyev,
believes that over this 10-year period, the Azerbaijani army has
been transferred into a perfect body commanded from a single centre
and brought into compliance with the NATO standards: “Our country
has been participating actively in the NATO’s Partnership for Peace
programme since 1996. Our military education system has been brought
into compliance with the NATO standards. We have taken advantage of
the cease-fire period sufficiently. At present Azerbaijani army is
capable of liberating the occupied territories.”
But Lt-Col Uzeyir Cafarov, independent military journalist, said that
had that period been used properly, the Azerbaijani army should have
been stronger than it is now: “True, a number of military reforms
have been accomplished, but we should also look at the enemy on the
opposite side. That army resorted to illegal means to arm itself. The
leadership of the Azerbaijani army does not pay much attention to
procurement of weapons and ammunition. Actually, we should have
become the leader among the South Caucasus countries over the past
period. Regrettably, this is not the case.”
Zardust Alizada, independent pundit, branded the cease-fire years as a
“lost time”. “Enforcing a cease-fire regime in 1994 was very important
as we needed to win time to create an army, adjust our affairs and
liberate the occupied lands. Unlike many other opposition members, I
hailed the truce at that point. But I was wrong. It turned out that
the government benefited from the cease-fire regime to strengthen
its position. I consider that the 10-year is a lost period and the
policy pursued over this time is equal to national treason.
The deputy executive secretary of the [ruling] New Azerbaijan Party,
MP Bahar Muradova, is optimistic. She says that the classification of
the cease-fire period as “lost years” is wide of the mark: “Although
we have not reached a peaceful solution to the Karabakh problem over
the cease-fire period, we managed to prepare appropriate grounds for
it. First, Azerbaijan has achieved political and economic successes,
the mighty army able to liberate the occupied lands has been created.”
[Passage omitted: Predictions on the outcome of the conflict are
inappropriate]
The former head of the presidential secretariat, Eldar Namazov,
does not consider the reforms, implemented in Azerbaijan during the
cease-fire period, efficient: “This includes both the policy for
Karabakh settlement and the development of the country. Azerbaijan
could have been the leading country in the South Caucasus over these
10 years. Despite our sufficient potential, ineffective reforms did
not lead us towards these targets.”
[Passage omitted: other similar opinions]

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Medical Association
Republic of Armenia, Yerevan
Tumanyan 38st, ap9,
Contact: Varduhi Tevanyan,
Administrative Secretary
Tel: (3741)53-58-68,(3741)53-48-63
Fax: (3741)53-48-79
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
NEUROLOGY SEMINAR
The Armenian Medical Association together with Union of Neurologists of
Armenia, Armenian Medical Union of France and FARFAA Salzburg Medical
Seminars Program organized a Neurology Seminar on Advances in Stroke
Management. The seminar was organized with general sponsorship of
GlaxoSmithKline and sponsorship of Nycomed The seminar took place
on April 29-30 in Yerevan and on May 3 in Stepanakert. About 200
doctors (neurologists, cardiologists, reanimatologists, and vascular
surgeons) from different regions of Armenia, as well as from Artsakh,
participated in the seminar.
The co-chairmen of the symposium were the president of Union of
Neurologists of Armenia, head of Neurology Department of Yerevan
State Medical University prof. Vahagn Darbinyan and a prominent
angioneurologist, professor of Claude Bernard University of Lyon,
Norbert Nigoghossian. The seminar was also attended by Dr. Marine
Tanashyan, deputy director of Stroke Research Scientific Center of
Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Institute of Neurology.
At the seminar, various interesting presentations were made
on stroke epidemilogy (by Dr. L. Gimoyan), prevention (by
prof. N. Nigoghossian) and risk factors (by Dr. P. Zelveian), diagnosis
(by prof. N. Nigoghossian) and management (by prof. N. Nigoghossian,
Dr. M. Tanashyan, prof. V. Darbinyan), angioneurology service
organization in Armenia (by prof. G. Bakunts).
The goal of the seminar was to present to doctors of Armenia and
Artsakh the latest information and to organize discussion on the
topics mentioned, as well as to provide background for creating
a Stroke Working Group in Armenia to address the vital issues of
stroke prevention. All the participants had the opportunity to fill
in and present a Statement of Interest where they could express their
interest in being involved in the Working Group activities and specify
the stroke-related field they would be interested to work in.
On May 1 a meeting of Armenian Medical Association and Union of
Neurologists of Armenia was held, at which the questions concerning
the establishment and activities of the Stroke Working Group were
discussed. Creation and maintaining of Armenian Stroke Register was
defined the main priority of the Working Group. It was decided to
include neurologists and cardiologists, as well as Public Health
specialists, in the group.
On May 3, a one-day seminar took place in
Stepanakert. Prof. Nigoghossian visited the central hospital of
Stepanakert, as well as hospitals of Shushi and Goris. After the end
of the seminar, prof. Nigoghossian said he will provide Armenian
doctors with a report analyzing the situation of angioneurologic
service in Armenia, for better organization of the activities of
Stroke Working Group.
The seminar was positively evaluated by participants and organizing
committee, due to high level of presentations, interesting discussions
and established connections. We hope the work started will be
continuous in the future and bring good results in preventing the
highly mortal and debilitating disease.

A1 Plus | 17:39:30 | 07-05-2004 | Politics |
NATALIA VUTOVA SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE
On Friday, the CE Special Envoy in Armenia Natalia Vutova, speaking at a
news conference in Yerevan, said there was nothing surprising, when the CE
member countries put their domestic troubles on PACE floor, and this has
never been considered as treason in any of 45 member countries, but Armenia.
Speaking on the PACE recent resolution on situation in Armenia, Vutova found
it irrelevant to speak about the opposition’s or the authorities’ defeat or
victory. The resolution calls on both sides to start a dialogue, she said
invoking Human Rights Convention’s provision of freedom of speech.
It was noted that, contrary to Venice Commission experts’ negative opinion,
Armenian authorities adopted the law on rallies, demonstrations and marches.
“We will continue to negotiate with the authorities for amending the law. It
must be based on Human Rights International Convention”, she said.
Responding to some Armenian officials’ attempts to play down the
significance of the resolution, because, as they say, it is grounded on
facts obtained from unreliable sources, Vutova said the CE is always
verifying the information given.