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  • "I Am Still Waiting For A Meeting With The Minister Of Health"

    "I AM STILL WAITING FOR A MEETING WITH THE MINISTER OF HEALTH"
    Sara Petrosyan

    http://hetq.am/en/publichealth/jek-saroyan/
    2010/05/24 | 15:08

    Feature Stories public health

    American-Armenian Dentist Proposes Preventative Oral Care Program
    for Kids but Officials Appear Uninterested.

    Jack Saroian, a Doctor of Dentistry, has been practicing dentistry in
    San Francisco for the past forty years. He also teaches at the Faculty
    of Dentistry at Pacific Ocean University. His first familiarity
    with dentistry began at the age of fifteen through his sister who
    was a dental technician and pharmacist at the time. After graduating
    from high school, he studied at Berkeley and later at San Francisco
    University. Upon graduating, he served for two years as a military
    dentist and then continued his professional training in San Francisco,
    while also teaching. For the past few years he has also taught public
    health classes at the American University in Yerevan. Mr. Saroian
    started to visit Armenia back in 1983. He says that he was interested
    to see the level of the development in the field of dentistry back
    in Soviet Armenia and today.

    After the independence of Armenia, Jack Saroian was granted the
    opportunity, as a member of the California Armenian Dental Association,
    to travel to Armenia and offer free dental services to children. He
    was worked in all of Armenia's regions, both urban and rural, and in
    the towns of Shushi and Stepanakert in Artsakh. He has toured Armenia
    five times between 1999 and 2005, dispensing free dental care to
    Armenia's children.

    "I've been to large and small towns, to the villages, so I know the
    prevailing situation. The problems of kids when it comes to dental
    hygiene and care are tremendous. Dentistry, as a profession, is at a
    very low level. Dental services are provided free to children up till
    the age of six. Older kids have to pay, but people aren't accustomed to
    paying for dental care. Then, too, there are financial restrictions. I
    realize that what is needed in Armenia is a preventative dental care
    system to avert dental disease before it occurs," Mr. Saroian said.

    Professor Saroian, in his capacity as a lecturer at the Science and
    Research Center at the American University's Faculty of Health, he
    got a chance to study the dental health of pupils at various Armenian
    schools. Some five hundred pupils, aged 5-7 and 12-14, from all the
    regions and two Yerevan schools, participated in the study. Results
    showed that, on average, the kids in the target age groups had on
    average eight rotten, broken or missing teeth. This compares with an
    international standard of 3-4 such teeth for kids aged 5-7.

    Interviewed pupils and dentists alike agreed that a majority of the
    children in the age groups specified complain of tooth aches.

    Professor Saroian presented his findings at a conference devoted to
    adolescent dental health that took place in Yerevan last November. He
    also proposed that table salt contain fluoride, a measure that would
    at least partially prevent the onset of dental diseases.

    Mr. Saroian noted that salt is not fluoridized in America and that
    not many are aware that some two million Americans drink fluoridized
    water. However, this method is widely practiced in about twenty five
    countries, including France, Switzerland and Germany. He says that
    by using fluoridized salt and water, tooth decay has been prevented
    for the past fifty five years.

    He says that the application of fluoride in the salt supports the
    health of the oral cavity and the strengthening of tooth enamel, which,
    in turn, decreases dental disease by 50-60%. "This means cutting
    dental visits by half, 50% less cavities and 50% less physical and
    mental stress. Still, we need to get regular check-ups," he said.

    Changing the composition of the salt we eat to prevent tooth decay
    is just one of the components of his overall preventative plan. "We
    also have to retrain teachers in the schools, so that they can show
    the kids the right way to brush and care for their teeth. We have to
    instruct parents regarding providing their kids with healthy nutrition
    and less sweets. Tooth decay can be cut by 60-80% through better diet,
    better cleaning and less sweets," he said.

    Professor Saroian said that all the interested parties in the field
    were present at the conference; representatives from the World
    Health Organization, to which Armenia belongs, UNICEF, specialist
    from the University's Department of Dentistry, managers from the salt
    production plant, and others. "They listened to my report and replied
    that Armenia wasn't ready for such a program," Mr. Saroian said.

    The Minster of Health was not present at the conference, but Deputy
    Health Minister Tatul Hakobyan noted that this was the first study
    of its kind in Armenia. After the conference, Mr. Saroian met with
    Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobyan and she later filed a brief about
    the proposals with RA President Serzh Sargsyan.

    "I have brought back with me from the U.S. a person who is a specialist
    with the technology. In his report he explained how the equipment
    can be utilized to inject fluoride into the salt. We can have this
    program up and running in the next 8-9 years at a cost of $700,000. I
    was also able to locate a benefactor who is ready to finance the
    project over this period," wrote Minister Hakobyan.

    With Jack Saroian's active assistance, representatives of Armenia's
    Health Ministry were able to attend a conference in Geneva in
    2007 devoted to the health of the oral cavity, since Armenia is a
    member of the WHO. It was noted at the conference that if governments
    weren't able to fluoridize the water, the next best thing would be to
    fluoridize the salt.. "The ministry representatives heard and saw it
    all; it was taking place in front of them. But two years ago, when
    he presented the findings of our study, the ministry said it wasn't
    yet ready to implement such a scheme. They said that maybe Armenia
    didn't need it because the country's air, water and soil contained
    all which we need," Mr. Saroian said.

    "They belittled my study," was his answer. He recounts that what truly
    amazed him was that Armenia did not oppose the program, presented
    twelve years ago by UNICEF, to iodize the salt as a way to fight
    against goitre. The ministry of commerce arranged the whole thing
    and directed salt manufacturers to implement the plan. At the time,
    salt was supposed to be fluoridized as well, but it never happened.

    Professor Saropian decided to expand the study since, as he says,
    "there are many here who approach the issue with skepticism." To give
    further weight to his study and the ensuing proposals, Professor
    Saroian decided to examine the amount of fluoride ions in children
    aged 3-5. So he traveled the regions and laboratory tested the
    drinking water to see the amount of fluoride ions it contained. Her
    says that such tests are unnecessary in those countries where the
    water is fluoridated.

    To conduct a new research study, Professor Saroian set down some
    implementation deadlines after meeting with official from the Ministry
    of Health in November 2009. According to the agreement reached, he
    was supposed to have started on May 11. The ministry said it was ready
    to place a laboratory at his disposal, as well as a car and a nurse,
    to take samples from the kids for analysis. "Last week, however, when
    I arrived in Armenia, they told me at the ministry that the issue was
    still being reviewed and that a final decision had yet to be reached,"
    Mr. Saroian said. He was forced to call his colleagues to postpone
    their arrival to Armenia, even though they had paid for the flight
    and hotel. Professor Saroian say that the ministry has known about
    the project for the past 3-4 months but that no preparations were made.

    "I am still waiting for a meeting with the Minister of Health. I am
    very disappointed since they assured me that the project would take
    place and they knew I was bringing other doctors with me. We could
    have completed the study in eight days. The other two doctors are
    specialists in public health and I have collaborated with them for
    four years to get this program off the ground. I am not a specialist,
    so I had to invite them from the States," said Mr. Saroian, adding
    that he's tried to meet with the Minister of Health to resolve the
    issue, but to no avail.

    Narineh Beglaryan, who heads the Department of International Relations
    at the Ministry, who faciitatated a review of the proposal to carry
    out the study, finally called.

    "I am not the person who can help you. Speak to someone else," she said

    On May 4, Professor Saroian met with Deputy Health Minister Tatul
    Hakobyan, who promised to discuss the matter with the minister and
    to get back with the American-Armenian dentist the following day.

    "The Deputy Minister never called. We've decided to put the whole
    thing on ice for a while or to call it off. You just can't go into
    schools and take samples from the kids without permission."

    Professor Saroian hopes that the minister will at least wish to meet
    with one of the specialists who has flown in from London. Otherwise,
    they will have to decide their next move.

    "Every time I come to Armenia, I am forced to spend more time here
    on this program. But I wouldn't want to spend the time I have left
    on this earth only on this one project," says Jack Saroian.

    Editor - We await some clarification on the matter from the Ministry
    of Health.




    From: A. Papazian
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