WHO mission to support quality improvement of child and adolescent health care services in Armenia

A WHO mission visited Armenia on 23–26 September 2013 to support the Ministry of Health in improving the quality of child and adolescent health (CAH) care services.

Within the framework of this mission WHO and the Ministry of Health organized a national workshop on implementation of national CAH strategies.

The 27 meeting participants, representing national, regional and district health authorities and maternal and child health staff and donor agencies, discussed current achievements and barriers to implementation of the National Hospital Care Improvement Strategy and National Child and Adolescent Health and Development Strategy action plan.

A WHO self-assessment tool on children’s rights in hospitals was presented during the meeting and the next steps for conducting a survey on children’s rights in hospitals in Armenia was discussed.

Ongoing improvement of paediatric care in Armenia

Since the early 1990s, the Armenian Ministry of Health has placed great emphasis on improving maternal and child health. Efforts have been aimed especially at immunization, control of acute respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases among children, promotion of breastfeeding, support to growth and early childhood development and the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy.

Several policies and measures have been introduced since that time, including creation of “quality of care” committees in hospitals.

In January 2011 Armenia introduced a system of health certificates or vouchers, which provide hospital care free of charge for children from 0 to 7 years of age. This resulted in a significant increase in financing of hospital paediatric care. At the same time financial support at primary and outpatient levels of paediatric care have remained almost unchanged since 2008.

In 2012 the Government endorsed the National Child Hospital Care Improvement Strategy for 2013–21015 and the Children’s rights protection strategic plan for 2013-2016.

Despite these efforts to ensure high-quality paediatric care, stakeholders commonly agree that there is still a need for improvement at both outpatient and inpatient levels.