Armenian doctors face prolonged pay disruptions amid reform uncertainty

Doctors in Armenia have been grappling with salary disruptions and mounting uncertainty for a fourth consecutive month, raising concerns about the implementation of ongoing healthcare reforms, representatives of a medical advocacy group said on Tuesday.

Anush Poghosyan, a member of the Voice of Doctors initiative and head of the Right to Health NGO, said that while the authorities have acknowledged systemic problems in the healthcare sector, tangible solutions remain insufficient.

“From the very first day we began raising these issues, we have recorded some progress, particularly in that health officials have recognized and publicly admitted that doctors face serious challenges,” Poghosyan told reporters following a meeting with medical staff outside Polyclinic No. 20 in Yerevan’s Davtashen district.

However, she added that current measures fall short of expectations, describing some official statements as “illogical”, while stressing the need for sustained advocacy to safeguard doctors’ rights.

Poghosyan underscored that although the introduction of health insurance is widely seen as a crucial reform, its success hinges on ensuring that physicians – the cornerstone of the system – are adequately compensated and professionally fulfilled.

“Doctors remain in a state of uncertainty. They do not know what lies ahead or how the system will ultimately function. Discussions are still ongoing,” she said. “Today, we are recording that this is already the fourth month that doctors have been facing salary-related and other issues.”

She also highlighted the financial strain on medical professionals with outstanding loans, noting that they cannot indefinitely defer repayments while awaiting government decisions on wages.

Gevorg Grigoryan, a urologist, andrologist and fellow member of the initiative, said testimonies from healthcare workers pointed to widespread problems.

“In just two offices we visited, one doctor reported not receiving due payments for consultations, while another said their salary had been reduced,” Grigoryan said, adding that similar patterns would likely emerge across the facility, though the group refrained from broader inspections to avoid disrupting operations.

Grigoryan noted that the initiative’s visits would extend beyond the capital to assess conditions nationwide.

“The fact that even after three months there is still debate over how the system will operate, how it will be funded and how doctors will be remunerated, once again demonstrates that the country was not adequately prepared and that the necessary groundwork had not been completed prior to the introduction of the system,” he said.