Discussion on Implementation of 2014-2019 Strategy on Maintenance and Improving Mental Health in the Republic of Armenia Held
16:05, October 30, 2015 | News, Own newsOn October 30, 2015, the Best Western Congress Hotel hosted in its Ball Room Hall a discussion held by HCA Vanadzor with the financial support of the Open Society Foundations-Armenia on Implementation of the 2014-2019 Republic of Armenia Strategy on the Maintenance and Improvement of Mental Health under the mental health month. The discussion was attended by Samvel Torosyan, Chief Psychiatrist of the RA Ministry of Health; Nelson Zuloyan, RA Ministry of Health PIU Executive and David Melik-Nubaryan, Head of Department; Artur Kesoyan, Head of the Department of Disabled and Elderly Persons’ Affairs of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and Anahit Gevorgyan, Head of the Division of the Elderly; Edgar Aleksanyan, Head of the Vocational Education Policy Development Department of the RA Minister of Education and Science, Narine Avagyan, Deputy Head of the Legislation Development and Legal Analysis of the RA Ministry of Justice; Andrea Khalupova, Coordinator of Political Affairs, European Union Armenia, Armen Soghoyan, Chairman of the Armenian Psychiatric Association, as well as representatives of the RA Human Rights Defender’s Office, Marzpetarans (Regional Governor’s Offices), and a number of NGOs. In his opening remarks, Artur Sakunts, Chairman of HCA Vanadzor, touched upon the monitoring of the Implementation of the 2014-2019 Republic of Armenia Strategy on the Maintenance and Improvement of Mental Health carried out by the Organization. Then he gave the floor to Davit Amiryan, Deputy Director for Programs, Open Society Foundations-Armenia, who presented the position of the OSF-Armenia on mental health and its contribution to the Strategy above. Then, Marieta Temuryan, HCA Vanadzor Monitoring Specialist, took the floor and summed up the information provided on the work done by the competent agencies to implement the actions as envisaged by the Action Plan of the Strategy. In his speech, Samvel Torosyan, Chief Psychiatrist of the RA Ministry of Health, mentioned that the Ministry prioritized the actions taken to improve the sector highlighting the need for preparation and training of young specialists. He also expressed his concern that young physicians did not prefer the specialization of psychiatry. The speaker particularly emphasized the need for passing a law on mental health and noted that a new draft Law on Psychiatric Aid had been developed. In this connection, A. Sakunts added that HCA Vanadzor would provide its own proposals on the draft law during its discussions and would particularly forward it proposal on passing the Law on Mental Health. Anahit Gevorgyan, representative of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, presented the work done by the Ministry for the implementation of the Strategy and appreciated the consistent approach of the HCA Vanadzor to the mental health processes. She also highlighted the need for special care centers and preparation and training of relevant specialists. Then, Anahit Chilingaryan, HCA Vanadzor Legal Analysis and Initiative Program Coordinator, presented the legislative regulations on declaring a person legally incapable and appointing a guardian and the deficiencies of such regulations. She also proposed specific solutions to reduce such deficiencies and cited some examples, including that of HCA Vanadzor beneficiary Zhuleta Amarikyan facing the risk of being declared legally incapable. Narine Avagyan, Deputy Head of the Legislation Development and Legal Analysis of the RA Ministry of Justice introduced some amendments to be made to the Civil Procedure Code and particularly noted that such amendments intended to give an opportunity to a person declared incapable to file a claim with the Court on declaring them legally capable, without the decision of their guardian. Edgar Aleksanyan, representative of the RA Ministry of Education and Science, presented the actions of the Strategy to be taken by his Department. In their proposals, the discussion participants, inter alia, highlighted the issue of setting up an interdepartmental monitoring group to coordinate or monitor the implementation of the Strategy. They also decided to submit this proposal to the RA Government. The discussion participants highly appreciated the analytical activities by HCA Vanadzor and its collaboration with both various departments and NGOs.