Yerevan’s chief cardiologist says Armenians need to eat better and get more exercise.

Parounak Zelveyan held a press conference Thursday to warn against the seasonal changes that have a strong influence in the Caucasus. According to First Aid Company emergency service, more than 100 patients are taken to hospital in Yerevan daily, most of which suffer from cardiovascular problems.

A benefits package introduced early this year envisaging state-financed medical insurance of public servants is the first step in introducing the institute of compulsory insurance, says Ara Babloyan, chairing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Healthcare, Maternity and Childhood.

The first feeling that 38-year-old Lusine Torosyan had after her breast augmentation surgery was fear. She had had 275 grams implanted into each breast and her general weight has increased by more than half a kilo.

“Something is added to your body, and it is frightening. But when I saw myself in the mirror for the first time, I immediately cried, wow, how beautiful they are!” Lusine recalls.

Drug addiction, alcoholism and, increasingly, gambling are said to be growing concerns in Armenia, that health care workers say reflect economic and social problems, and that should merit government policy attention.

Consumer Union Ngo president Armen Poghosyan says 18 food shops were fined in Armenia in 2011 for selling outdated products – a common problem here.
Violations included soft drinks, dairy products, packaged fish products and canned coffee.

Feeling emotionally hungover? Feeling a shock to the system when the work week calls? Welcome to post-holiday Armenia.

Psychologists say reluctance to get back to work after New Year holidays is not uncommon among Armenians, for most of whom the first ten days of January are a period of intense socializing.

On December 1, AIDS Awareness Day, the AIDS Prevention Republican Center reports that there are 1,136 patients infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Armenia. Over the past year, 165 new cases were registered – a higher report of infection than previous years.

Selective abortions – the practice of keeping a fetus based on it sex – present a serious demographic problem for Armenia’s future oncologist-gynecologist Vahe Ter-Minasyan told the press on Wednesday.

The Armenian Government with the support of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Yerevan office has initiated a program “Evaluation Research of Nubarashen’s Pesticides Waste Dump", within which technical research and assessment of health risk in the villages of Nubarashen – on the southeast edge of Yerevan – where a waste dump area is to be developed.

The sale of dairy products made by the Armfood Company has been suspended on order of the State Food Security Service, after a customer alert led to the discovery of Staphylococcus and other harmful bacteria in goat milk.