I Am Very Surprised: Angelika Egert to Anna Hakobyan

On October 9, Anna Hakobyan, the First Lady of Armenia and the chairwoman of the boards of trustees of the "My Step" and "City of Smile" charitable foundations, hosted Angelika Egert, the director of the pediatric oncology and hematology clinic at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin. Present at the meeting were Samvel Danielyan, the director of the Prof. R. Yolyan Hematological Center, oncologist Gevorg Tamamyan, and Esther Demirchyan, the executive director of the "City of Smile" foundation.

During the meeting, Ms. Egert shared details of her visit to Yerevan and discussed her meetings and impressions at the Hematological Center. “I must say, I am very surprised. I came from a country with advanced medicine, but what I saw here is wonderful, very developed, and the field of pediatric oncology is at a very high level. The doctors are very professional,” said Angelika Egert, emphasizing the fact that both the pediatric hematological center and the pediatric oncology center operate within one institution. According to Ms. Egert, there is no similar center in Germany, and Germany should adopt this experience from Armenia, which is very effective.

“I am very happy with your evaluations. This is very important for us. It means we are on the right track. This is the result of our doctors' hard work that we have such a high level today,” said Anna Hakobyan, adding that while the technical equipment in Armenia is not at a high level, the specialists are highly qualified and are considered excellent professionals. Hakobyan emphasized that her goal is to create a major regional cancer center in Armenia. She also noted that the construction of a palliative care center and a nursing home is currently underway.

Discussing the results of the visit to Yerevan, Ms. Egert mentioned that several agreements on cooperation were reached. One of them is the implementation of Telemedicine, which will allow Armenian and German doctors to discuss complex cases via video conferencing. “The idea of Telemedicine is very good. Many Armenians wish to receive treatment not in Yerevan but in Germany. Even when our doctors assure them that the treatment can be fully conducted in Yerevan and overcome the illness, many still want to go to Germany. Many of them even become refugees. This is a significant problem for both countries. And now, when it becomes possible for patients to also see the results of those discussions and understand what German doctors think, it will give them greater confidence,” said Anna Hakobyan.

There has also been an agreement to conduct joint training programs. Ms. Egert emphasized that serious work needs to be done in Germany in this direction, and she will present the program to several foundations to receive support. The meeting also discussed several other issues of bilateral cooperation.