October 23, 2019 - 13:56 AMT
Pediatric liver transplant performed in Armenia for the first time

Liver transplantation was performed in Armenia on a child for the first time ever on Tuesday, October 22, Health Minister Arsen Torosyan said in a Facebook post.

Belarusian doctors assisted in the living-donor transplant surgery, Torosyan revealed.

A liver transplant surgery on an adult person was for the first time performed in Armenia earlier in the year.

“Performing such complex surgeries in Armenia speaks to the development of our medicine and medical science,” the Minister wrote.

“The condition of the donor and recipient is satisfactory at this time, in line with the normal postoperative process.”

The surgery was performed by YSMU Professor Artavazd Sahakyan and Ara Babloyan, the General Director of Arabkir Children's Clinical Centre and former speaker of the Armenian National Assembly.

Torosyan earlier confirmed his intention to develop the practice of transplanting organs from deceased donors in Armenia. Kidney transplantation, the Minister said, is the most urgent procedure that needs to be regulated and improved. Such surgeries are currently offered in the country with organs from living donors and are partly paid for by the government.