The ministry is silencing doctors through blackmail and terror: Gevorg Grigoryan on medical workers’ “deaf complaint”

A “deaf complaint” from medical workers has been formed, according to Gevorg Grigoryan, a doctor, healthcare organizer, and member of the Voice of a Doctor initiative group.

Speaking during parliamentary discussions devoted to the universal mandatory health insurance system at the National Assembly of Armenia, Grigoryan said the complaint is “deaf” because, in practice, the Ministry of Health of Armenia allegedly uses administrative leverage to pressure the directors of medical institutions to intimidate and blackmail healthcare workers who attempt to speak out.

“The same medical worker was fired simply for writing a comment. The latest complaint I received this morning concerns an anesthesiologist who performs extremely important work but receives only 4.7 percent of the amount paid for the service,” Grigoryan said.

According to him, given these issues, it was regrettable that no representative of the Ministry of Health attended the parliamentary discussion. Deputies from the ruling Civil Contract faction were also absent.

“I believe the Minister of Health did not appear here as a result of a political decision in order to avoid facing the existing problems. In other words, the Ministry of Health is politicizing issues raised by medical workers that are purely related to working conditions. We are not discussing personalized issues or targeting anyone – we are speaking about systemic problems in the sector. Yet in response we are receiving a political demarche,” he said.

Grigoryan also rejected the ministry’s explanation that it was waiting for the first-quarter results before participating in parliamentary discussions.

“Yesterday, during the government session, it was announced that there had been overspending, and 2.5 billion drams were allocated from the government’s reserve fund to cover these expenses. In other words, more was paid for medical services than originally planned,” he said.

“This raises the question: who generated this overspending? Of course, medical workers. They have been placed under that burden, yet they have not been properly compensated. This is exploitation. Abroad, such situations are sometimes even described as trafficking – only the confiscation of passports is missing,” Grigoryan added.