During the soviet era, Armenia had 'one of the best developed health care systems in the Soviet Union',10 but subsequent political and economic problems have eroded this, with major implications for health status.
Armenia has in fact undergone little significant change to the organisational structure of its health care system since independence. However, the Ministry of Health has undergone major change: it has reduced in size and now commissions much of its work from freestanding agencies. In 1998 an attempt was made to separate health care provision from financing, and the newly-created State Health agency assumed the responsibility of a third party payer - a move towards the creation of an insurance-based system of health care financing. At the moment, however, all health care financing is via tax revenues.11
One oncologist commented thus on the palliative care situation in Armenia:
'[Politicians] in general support the idea of palliative treatment on incurable oncopatients, but because of the difficult economic situation in our country they have no possibility to give real help. [The general public] also support the idea of palliative care of patients, however some difficulties arise when conducting explanatory work with relatives and 'nearests' about the restricted possibilities of district oncologists and of public health in general.12
Health care expenditure (US$) per capita, Commonwealth of Independent States and Mongolia
Information is not available on health expenditure per capita in Armenia.
Source: WHO Regional Office for European Health for All database and HiTs
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