Heart Attacks Treated with Santavik, Kidney Failures with Valerian: Naira Zohrabyan

In the National Assembly's permanent committee on human rights protection, the dire state of penitentiary institutions will be discussed with the participation of the Minister of Justice and the Human Rights Defender. This was reported by the committee chair Naira Zohrabyan in an interview with "Armenian Time".

According to Zohrabyan, the discussion will revolve around why doctors are reluctant to work in penitentiary institutions. "The reason is that they receive a salary of 60,000 to 80,000 drams," said Naira Zohrabyan.

The committee chair also deems the list of medications available in prisons to be catastrophic. "I opened the cupboards of penitentiary institutions and saw what medicines are available. Heart attacks are treated with Santavik or kidney failure with Analgin and Valerian. We have recorded complex issues that require urgent solutions. These medical facilities should be removed from the jurisdiction of the penitentiary service. The list of medications must be expanded; it is impossible to treat a heart attack with Santavik," she emphasized.

In our conversation, Naira Zohrabyan informed that in some penitentiary facilities there are no doctors. "I have entered penitentiary institutions where another detainee performed the doctor's duties. He bandaged another inmate because there was no doctor available. You cannot force a doctor to go to a penitentiary institution where a one-day stay is equivalent to three days of life lost," she concluded.