Procurement of test-systems for HIV diagnostics and monitoring in Armenia: discussing the results of the study

On June 6, Yerevan hosted a round table on presentation of the results of the monitoring of procurements of test systems for HIV diagnostics and monitoring in the Republic of Armenia during 2021-2022. Such an analysis was conducted in Armenia for the first time. The event was organized jointly by “Health Advocacy Coalition” (HAC), the “International Treatment Preparedness Coalition in Eastern Europe and Central Asia” together with the NGO “Armenian Network of Positive People”. 

The event was held with the financial support of the CO «100% Life» and the Alliance for Public Health within the framework of the SoS_project 2.0 supported by the Global Fund. The meeting was attended by representatives of the “National Center for Infectious Diseases”, the CCM Secretariat, UNAIDS and representatives of non-profit organizations of Armenia. 

During the first year of implementation of SoS_project 2.0, community monitoring was carried out on the availability of test systems for the diagnostics and monitoring of HIV infection in Armenia. After presenting the preliminary results of the monitoring and recommendations, the participants discussed such important topics as data availability, decentralization of testing services, testing on the basis of NGOs and the availability of express tests in the pharmacy network.  

Also, representatives of community organizations raised the issue of transparency of public procurement data, including prices, volumes and manufacturers. This issue is relevant not only for Armenia, but also in many other countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. The lack of the information not only about diagnostic procurements, but also for ARV treatment significantly complicates the process of data collection and interpretation. 

During the final discussion, further recommendations were developed, including improving the methodology for data collection during monitoring, improving the quality of data by providing access to state information resources in order to implement a public control mechanism and improving the work aimed at providing the pharmacy network with express tests. 

Anahit Harutyunyan, NGO “Armenian Network of Positive People”, says: “It was the first time we made such a report, and it turned out not exactly the way we planned it due to the fact that the Ministry of Health provided us with data that was difficult to interpret. In addition, we faced the fact that the public procurement website does not allow us to get all the data that we needed. But during the discussion, we outlined further steps to verify the data and improve the monitoring in future.”  

Anaida Papikyan, representative of the Country Coordinating Committee, in turn, made a proposal to present and distribute this report through the Country Coordination Committee.