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Number of Registered Drug Users in Armenia Surpasses 5,000

By Gayane Sargsyan

There are 60 intravenous drug users registered at the Lori Provincial Neuro-Psychiatric Dispensary in the northern Armenian town of Vanadzor.

Another 90 are registered as those getting medical counseling.   Most of the registered drug users are from Vanadzor and the Gougarq region. There are no adolescent or women registered as users. The youngest registered user is 21, the oldest 52.

Drug specialist Hovhannes Amirkhanyan, who has worked at the dispensary for the past seven years, believes the number of drug users is several times more than the number registered.

In the past two years, the number of in-patients at the dispensary has dropped from 14-15 to 6-7. In-patient treatment, according to state regulations, lasts for twenty days. The state pays 6,500 AMD (US$13.58) per day of treatment (medications, meals, wages of staff, etc.)

Amirkhanyan believes the drop in in-patient cases is due to the inclusion of methadone treatment.

There are 20-30 patients at the Lori dispensary receiving methadone treatment annually.

“Most of the users who have filed for treatment and have been cured have been in the methadone program,” says Amirkhanyan.

However, many users avoid being treated at the dispensary given that the drug unit isn’t separated from other units. Those with psychological problems get treated alongside drug users.

“It would be better for the drug unit to be separate, but given our resources that isn’t possible,” says Amirkhanyan.

Every year, the number of patients receiving methadone treatment in Armenia is inching up. In 2009 the number was 32. It rose to 111 the following year, 160 in 2011, 116 in 2012, and 312 in 2013.

Overall, the number of drug users in Armenia has been on the rise as well.

According to a 2014 national report on drug usage in Armenia, there were 1,686 registered drug users in the country in 2009. The number rose to 3,893 in 2011 and 4,922 in 2013.

Today, the number has surpassed 5,000.

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