Nushik Shahbazyan only started paying attention to her health at the age of 38, after years of experiencing constant weakness, loss of appetite and occasional stomach pain.

“I was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver of unknown origin. At that time, my condition was already bad, I had lost a lot of weight, I had no appetite at all, and I felt very weak,” says Shahbazyan, despite receiving regular medical treatment and monitoring.

Liver diseases, as she later learned, can remain unnoticed for years.

During one of her regular treatments, Shahbazyan met a woman at the hospital who had received a liver transplant.  

“When I saw him so healthy and well, I realized that maybe this was the right thing to do, and I should do it too,” she says.

Shahbazyan decided to travel to Russia, where her sister lives, and have the surgery done there. But after talking to several transplant recipients and studying their experiences, she decided to have the procedure done in Armenia.

The surgery cost AMD twenty million (US$52,505 according to today’s exchange rate). Three million was reimbursed by the hospital, five million was paid by the state. Her brother paid a substantial portion of the remainder, and the rest was collected through donations.

Today, several years later, Shahbazyan says she lives a full pain-free life.  

“If I hadn’t had the transplant, I don’t know what would have happened,” she says.

In Armenia, a liver transplant costs twenty million drams, of which the state reimburses five million, the hospital reimburses three million, and the patient pays the remaining twelve. Preoperative examinations, special medications, and the surgery itself cost about 7.5 million drams, of which the state reimburses four million.

Hospitals in Armenia, using the latest medical technologies, now perform kidney, liver, and corneal transplants.

Over the past five years, 102 kidney and thirteen liver transplants were performed   at the Arabkir Hospital and the Astghik Medical Center in Yerevan.

Kidney and liver surgeries are performed only from living, mostly family related, donors.

According to doctors, most transplanted patients return to active social and professional life.

Nephrologist Helen Nazaryan, who heads the hemodialysis department at Arabkir Hospital, notes that the annual mortality rate of patients receiving long-term dialysis is considerable.  Kidney transplants, when successful, can add years of productive life for patients. 

Over the past five years, 164 corneal implants were performed in Armenia

Corneal transplants in Armenia use imported corneas from cadaveric donors.  Until 2021, state compensation amounted to 175,000 drams, and starting in 2021, it was 210,000 drams, and the cost of the cornea needed for transplantation is reimbursed by patients, based on invoices, according to information provided by the medical organization.

Armenia began performing cadaveric transplants (deceased donor transplants) in 1991. Such procedures stopped in 1994 due to a change in the law.

Nazaryan says cadaveric transplants in Armenia resumed in 2002, when new laws were adopted, but that the public at large and many doctors were not aware of the change.

Nazaryan says the last cadaveric transplant was performed in Armenia from an Armenian donor to an Armenian patient. After that, cadaveric transplants have not been performed in Armenia.

Although the current law in Armenia permits cadaveric donations, and the technical means are available, it is not done in practice. 

The legislation stipulates that if a person has not refused to be a donor in writing during their lifetime, in the event of death they are considered as potential donors, and with the consent of relatives, the transplantation process can begin.

 On May 16, 2024, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed the  Oviedo Convention, formally known as the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine. It’s an international treaty established by the Council of Europe and serves as a legally binding instrument to safeguard human rights in the biomedical field. The convention's core principle is that human rights must take precedence over scientific and medical advancements.

Armenia’s parliament adopted the law in April 2025.   

The Convention clearly defines when and how an organ or tissue can be removed from a living donor. It is allowed only for the treatment of the recipient and only in cases where a suitable organ or tissue cannot be obtained from a deceased donor and there is no other treatment option that is equally effective. In addition, the donor must give his consent clearly, in writing and in the presence of an official body.

The document also protects those people who do not have the capacity to give consent. Removing an organ or tissue from them is prohibited, except in rare cases provided for by law, when it comes to the donation of regenerative tissue (such as bone marrow). In such situations, several conditions must be met simultaneously: there is no other suitable donor, the recipient is the donor's brother or sister, the donation can save the recipient's life, permission has been given by an authorized body, and the donor does not personally object.

The transplant process depends on many links. It begins with the resuscitator, who must record brain death and inform those responsible for the transplant. However, many doctors, according to Nazaryan, do not want to participate in this process due to concerns about the workload, psychological pressure, and public reactions.

In addition to professional difficulties, there is also a problem of public perception. Wars, human losses, and pandemics have deepened people’s distrust of doctors.

“There are some myths and unfounded fears in our society that hinder the natural process,” Nazaryan notes.

Despite widespread myths and fears, experience shows that transplantation is more effective than long-term and often ineffective treatments. In the case of a cadaveric transplant, one donor can give several people the opportunity to live and return to a full life after death.