Republic of Armenia, capital Yerevan

Some basic info on the country
The Armenians are a very ancient people, being descendants of people who have lived in the land since prehistoric times. Before 1000 BC Armenia was dominated by the Urartu - the name is the same as "Ararat". Armenia is a country of ancient culture and it is often referred to as ''an open air museum'', and the Ararat Valley is the ''main hall'' of that museum.

Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to formally adopt the Christianity (301 AD). In 405 St. Mesrop Mashtots invented the Armenian alphabet, consisting of 39 letters, which can express most of the sounds of foreign languages. The Armenian language is a distinctive member of the Indo-European group. The bible was first to be translated into Armenian and written in the new script, other texts and sacred works followed, leading to the fifth century being known as the "Golden Age" of Armenian literacy.

A great number of Armenians are spread all over the world after the Armenians' Genocide in 1915 in Turkey:e 1.5 million was killed through 1914-1918. There are famous Armenian artists known all over the world who are the generation of the Genocide victims.

Armenia has started the movement for the return of Nagorno Karabakh in 1987. The war continued between Armenia and Azerbaijan throughout 1992 and early 1993. Armenians took advantage of the situation in April 1993.

Currently, apart from the Karabakh issue the major Armenian topic is the campaign to gain worldwide acknowledgement of the genocide organized by Ottoman against Armenians in 1915 .

Location: Southern Caucasus

Population: (official est.): 3,213,011 de jure ( 3,002,594 de facto).
These figures represent the final results of the October 2001 census, as announced in January 2003.

Square km: total: 29,800 sq km, land: 28,400 sq km, water: 1,400 sq km

Infant mortality rate: total: 24.16 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 29.32 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 18.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy: total population: 71.23 years
male: 67.73 years
female: 75.36 years (2004 est.)

GDP: purchasing power parity - $11.79 billion (2003 est.)

Income per capita: $2407 (2000 est.)

Number of cars/televisions: 130.000 cars in Yerevan

Number of women physicians: There is no statistical data about the gender distribution of physicians in Armenia.

Prevalence of smoking: males - 67.5%, females - 3.1%

Major cause of death:

• Cardiovascular diseases
• Malignant neoplasm
• Diseases of the digestive system
• Diseases of the respiratory organs
• Injuries and poisoning

Number of hospitals in the country: 123

After the Soviet Union had collapsed in 1991, Armenia regained independence but experienced political and economic trauma, which could not go around the health care system. Now the health care system of Armenia is in the process of optimization. There is lack of resources and modern medical equipments for the physicians. Because of the low income there is also an important problem - corruption among healthcare workers.

Besides, there is not organization or law to hold the physicians' licensing agreement and Continuous Medical Education yet. Even more, there is neither estimation nor legal regulation for medical mistakes, as well as the patient empowerment. Therefore the Armenian health care system is in the process of reforms aimed to establish and regulate the national policy for the healthcare system.

At the moment there is no medical ethics committee in Armenia, however Armenian Medical Association is the only organization who has initiated this issue.

Armenian Medical Association