YEREVAN. – There are seven orphanages, two of them specialized, in Armenia where 796 children currently live.

Lena Hayrapetyan, head of department on children’s affairs, Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, said that 470 out of 796 are children with mental and physical disabilities who live in two specialized orphanages.

In this regard, the ministry appealed to government to turn one orphanage into a specialized one.  “People do not have money to buy medicine for their children with disabilities, and therefore they leave them in orphanages,” Harutunyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

On the initiative of the Armenian Government “Zatik” orphanage was renamed family support center, where children will receive day care.

There were eight orphanages in Armenia until 2009. As of January 2010, Armenian orphanages are home to 860 children.