healthcare

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Manan in Dusseldorf. She hides her face as many in her hometown do not know the reason she is in Germany. Photo: Aren Melikyan/OC Media.

Armenia

Seeking asylum and a cure in Germany

by Aren Melikyan

•7 min read

Many Armenian citizens with debilitating and life-threatening health problems that they cannot afford to treat in their homeland look to Germany as their last chance for treatment and recovery — despite the high chance of deportation. The small public square in front of Dusseldorf’s main train station evokes feelings of nostalgia for the 42-year-old Armenian woman standing in front of it. Inga can’t help but compare everything she sees with her hometown of Gyumri, a city in the north of Armen

Analysis

Datablog | Drug prices as big a concern as COVID-19 for Georgians

by Avto Dolidze

•2 min read

While Georgia’s healthcare system has faced significant challenges as a result of the pandemic, just under half of Georgians consider an issue related to COVID-19 to be among the main challenges facing the country’s healthcare system with medicine prices remaining a big worry, polling suggests. In the December 2020 NDI and CRRC Georgia survey, respondents were asked what the largest issue facing the healthcare system was. They were allowed to name up to three issues. The most commonly named i

Inga Dundua, a paramedic for 25 years, can no longer walk following an accident at work. Photo: Tamuna Chkareuli/OC Media.

Feature Stories

How Georgia’s Emergency Services abandoned a paramedic left paralysed at work

by Tamuna Chkareuli

•10 min read

Left paralysed after an ambulance crash, paramedic Inga Dundua has been forced to fight the Emergency Services at every step of her rehabilitation. On the night of 9 June 2019, an ambulance was called to an address outside of their service area — something that happens quite frequently in Georgia. It had been raining for some time and the roads were slippery. The ambulance was called to Nadzaladevi District, a notoriously hilly area of Tbilisi. Senior paramedic Inga Dundua and her assi

The Kanaker-Zeytun maternity hospital in Yerevan. Photo: Yerevan Municipality.

Armenia

‘I was too young to become a mum’: Teenage pregnancies in Armenia

by Armine Avetisyan

•3 min read

Though the rate of teenage pregnancies in Armenia is declining, it remains substantial. Meanwhile, the stigma of unwanted pregnancy continues to lead teenagers to self-administer abortion medication without medical supervision. ‘I was 15 years old. Those were the best days of my life. My boyfriend and I lived for each other.’ Anna, now 25-years-old, (not her real name) told OC Media. ‘Then I realised I was pregnant.’ ‘My boyfriend was 16’, she recalled. ‘Using protection didn’t cross our min

‘I’d rather eat less bread and buy the necessary medication’, says Keti, who lost her job as a cleaner at a hostel. Photo: Tamuna Chkareuli/OC Media.

COVID-19

Georgia's sick left in agony as affordable medications disappear

by Tamuna Chkareuli

•6 min read

The economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has left many in Georgia without work and unable to afford the medicines they need. Closed borders have also made getting cheaper drugs from abroad all but impossible. Georgia’s borders have remained closed since 18 March due to COVID-19, with limited exceptions. Polling suggests average household income may have almost halved, and those who were directly dependent on the tourism industry, are now facing a tough choice of either saving t

Abkhazia

Georgia’s medical programme for Abkhazians and South Ossetians may be at risk

by Dato Parulava

•10 min read

Every year, hundreds of patients travel from Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Tbilisi to take advantage of free medical treatment provided by the Georgian government. However, a cut to coverage of diagnostics, a lack of clear information, and opposition from Tskhinvali are putting the success of the programme at risk. ‘When I first arrived, I didn’t know what to expect from Georgians,’ says Gunda (not her real name). ‘I thought people would be aggressive towards us, but I was amazed to find out i

Nino Beselia Photo: Tamuna Chkareuli/OC Media.

cancer

‘Life shouldn’t be a luxury’ — a Georgian woman’s struggle to afford life-saving cancer treatment

by Tamuna Chkareuli

•5 min read

Despite partial government funding for cancer treatment in Georgia, for society’s most vulnerable, the remaining costs can still be insurmountable. For one woman suffering from breast cancer, scraping together the money for life-saving treatment has been all but impossible. Fifty-year-old Nino Beselia was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, but for two years she delayed getting the tumour examined for financial reasons. ‘Back then I didn’t realise it’s the most important thing. When I fina