Armenian parliament MPs during the sitting on Thursday are discussing a bill to amend the law on the legal regime of martial law. 

The bill was introduced by Deputy Health Minister Levon Hakobyan.

According to him, the need for this bill stems from the relevance of creating a unified management system for the healthcare sector during the war and the effective resolution of emerging problems. “As a result of the privatization of medical and service organizations since the 1990s, there has been a significant market reformatting of the healthcare system. Currently, there are 125 organizations providing medical services in Armenia, 51 of which are located in Yerevan, and 74 in the regions, 68 of them are under the jurisdiction of regional administrations - 57.4%, 36 are privately owned and privatized - 28.8%, seven are under the jurisdiction of other institutions - 5.6%, and only 14 are under the jurisdiction of the Health Ministry - 11.2%,” he said.

‘Most operating private medical and service organizations are large multifunctional hospitals, in which a significant part of the human and technological potential of the republic’s healthcare system is concentrated,” he said adding that their activities will play an important role in martial law. 

“The role and importance of the primary health care network will increase significantly, and it is assumed that the main burden of planned medical care and public services will be borne by this link,” Hakobyan addd.

According to him, the adoption of this bill involves the creation of a unified healthcare management system under martial law, followed by the transfer of its authority to the state authorized body for healthcare management in Armenia.

The task of the bill, according to the deputy minister, is to transfer the authority to manage organizations providing medical care and services, regardless of their form of ownership, to the public administration in the field of health in the event of martial law.