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The reason for the addendum to the law on Medical Aid and Service for Population is the protection of healthcare workers.

The revised draft law on Making Addendum to the Law on Medical Aid and Service for Population authored by the deputies Narek Zeynalyan and Lusine Badalyan was debated in the first reading at the regular sitting of the Standing Committee on Health Care on September 8.

The authors propose adding a new paragraph to part 2 of Article 33 of the law: “In order to carry out the process of continuous professional development (CPD), in accordance with the paragraphs 1 and 2 of the fourth part of this Article, during the period of providing the minimum necessary credits, the job of the healthcare worker, as well as the basic salary provided for by the contract and the individual legal act on employment, are preserved.”

The authors had debates with directors of medical facilities, doctors, who positively evaluated the initiative.

The problem is that the CPD crediting process of medical workers will begin from January 1, 2023. Doctors must collect 220 credits, and nurses -140 credits in 5 years. If the healthcare workers do not collect the appropriate credits during that period, they will not be able to keep their jobs. The authors clarified that the proposed regulation will not work in case of collecting more credits.

The Government presented some proposals, some of which the authors accepted. One of them, according to which, it was proposed to formulate the addendum in a different way, was not accepted. According to the Government, if the draft is adopted in the form proposed by the authors, additional financial burden will be added to medical institutions. The authors did not agree with this viewpoint.

The Deputy Minister of Health Lena Nanushyan proposed to the authors withdrawing the draft from circulation and debate it again.

The authors did not accept this proposal of the Government.

As a result of the voting, the Committee endorsed the draft. It will be proposed to include it in the draft agenda of the NA upcoming regular sittings.