ArmInfo. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is ready to provide financial support for the implementation of long-term health programs in Armenia. The head of the Armenian office of EBRD Dmitry Gvindadze stated this during a meeting with health minister Arsen Torosyan.
"Our participation depends on private investment. If they are, we are ready to begin close cooperation. Healthcare is the direction where we can work effectively," he said.
A. Torosyan added that the Armenian public health system is on the way to reforms, and in this context, the minister stressed the importance of introducing the insurance system and ensuring its wide coverage. "Currently, a pilot insurance program for civil servants is in the process, and in the near future it will be expanded, covering about 600 thousand people from a particular social group. This does not solve all the problems, but it significantly changes the situation. Consistently, in the next 3-4 years we will achieve a wider coverage. Experience shows that if you immediately make changes - the results will be less successful, "he explained.
In this regard, the head of the Armenian office of the EBRD added: "Given my professional experience, I am ready to provide personal assistance and consulting support in the systemic health care reform in Armenia."
The sharp increase in health insurance indicators was due to the launch in October 2017 of the process of introducing compulsory medical insurance (OMC), namely, its first stage - the beneficiaries of the first phase of the social package were civil servants, which number about 100 thousand. It is noteworthy that for the IV quarter of each the third holder of social package of civil servants managed to use medical services, including operable cases. At the first stage, taking into account the status of the beneficiaries, the Ministry of Health at the expense of state funds carries out the financing of the package. From the second half of 2018 the social package will cover another category of citizens - the most unsecured segments of the population - 612 thousand people. Presumably, the full implementation of CHI in Armenia will begin in 2019.
EBRD is an institutional investor in Armenia. Since the launch of the EBRD in Armenia, in particular since 1992, over 1.13 billion euros have been invested in the implementation of 157 programs in the financial, corporate, infrastructure, and energy sectors. Moreover, 88% of these investments were directed to the development of private entrepreneurship.