Health

In February 2023, the Armenian government announced the gradual introduction of a national health insurance that in four years would cover the country’s population. Experts have long debated the need to reform the current system, under which the general public pays for treatment, while those from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups can access free care. © Armenia’s Ministry of Health

Armenia to Launch Comprehensive Health Insurance

Country has long had low spending on healthcare, leading to huge pressure on ordinary citizens.

22 Mar 23

A mother holds the children she gave birth to as a result of in-vitro fertilisation. In January, the Armenian government announced a large-scale free programme to address the country's low infertility rate. © Fertility Center of Armenia

Armenia Offers Free IVF to Tackle Population Decline

Authorities are taking measures to address high infertility rate and address demographic challenges.

3 Feb 23

Family doctor Natalya Tunik conducts a medical appointment in Sunki, a village in the central region of Cherkasy, where there is no hospital. © Photo courtesy of N. Tunik

Doctors on Wheels: Ukraine’s Mobile Medical Teams

Project delivers medical aid to people in remote areas and those displaced by the war.

2 Feb 23

Ukrainian military medics treat soldiers suffering from minor injuries and concussions sustained during fighting in Popasna at a frontline field hospital on May 09, 2022 near Popasna, Ukraine. © Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Body and Soul: Healing Ukraine’s Soldiers

Country’s medical system now has to deal with a huge influx of complex injuries suffered in the ongoing war – and that includes psychological trauma.

7 Oct 22

The town of Alaverdi in northeastern Armenia, near the border with Georgia, crossed by the Debed river. A criminal case was filed in late July, following a complaint that the river, a source of irrigation for some two dozen villages, had been polluted by Nahatak tailings. © Mania Israelyan/IWPR

Armenia: Mining Leaves Toxic Legacy

Activists call on government and local industry to respond to recent research revealing major hazards.

3 Oct 22

Alu Gamakharia, 74, fled Sokhumi in 1993 and settled in Kutaisi, Georgia's second largest city. In 2009 he founded the Peace and Business Caucasus Association to help people from the region receive medical care in Tbilisi-controlled territory. © Nino Bakradze

Georgia’s Health Diplomacy

A medical support programme aims to heal wounds between Abkhazians and Georgians.

22 Jun 22

A distraught family at Lviv train station. © Oleksandr Solonenko

Ukraine: The Trauma of War

Experts warn children are experiencing huge psychological distress as a result of the conflict.

28 Apr 22

Despite being outlawed, young girls are still being subjected to FGM in southern parts of Nigeria. © Erick Gibson/Wikimedia

Nigeria: FGM Rises Amid Pandemic

Campaigners warn that lockdown left many girls and young women vulnerable to the practice.

8 Mar 22

Calls from the scientific community for pregnant women to get vaccinated have increased in recent months. © Arteida MjESHTRI/Unsplash

Armenia: Vaccine Reluctance Prevails Among Pregnant Women

Resistance continues despite studies showing the jab shields both expectant mothers and their babies.

19 Jan 22

Alarm Raised Over Child Suicide in Kyrgyzstan

The problem predates the pandemic, but coronavirus restrictions have exacerbated it.

22 Dec 21

Support our journalists

Donate