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The Minister of Health is one of the most discussed and criticized ministers in the media. Disinformation about him is also widely spread on the Internet in order to have a direct impact on public opinion.
Recently “Sharp Angle” program also referred to the minister a few times.
The report “When There are No Eyes in the House” of the TV program refers to a 4-month-old child’s death and presents Arsen Torosyan’s positions on this issue, often distorting them. From the very beginning, a biased attitude is observed in the words of the TV host, and this bias continues in the words used by the journalist.
The Fact Investigation Platform has addressed a few topics that can lead to misinterpretations, introducing the real facts to the reader.
The TV host is quoted as saying: “It would not be a secret to say that Arsen Torosyan, the Minister of Health, is a big fan of compulsory vaccination. He has repeatedly stated that, and continues making claims about its importance and usefulness. But when it became known that a child died because of vaccination, he rushed to dispel the anger of the people saying that the death of 360 children annually is within the normal range.”
Fact Investigation Platform has once referred to this disinformation: the minister has never made such a statement.
As for the fact that the child died of a vaccine, it should be that the criminal proceedings in relation to the child’s death have not yet been completed, and the final forensic conclusion has already denied the causal link between the vaccination and the child’s death.
Cutting Arsen Torosyan’s words from the context, the journalist makes the following judgment, “Arsen Torosyan says that children can be vaccinated and die, the death of about one child per day is a statistical norm.”
In fact, speaking of this topic, the health minister said: “… In 2017, we had 308 cases of deaths of children of the age of up to one year, 350 cases of deaths of children of the age of up to 5 years … if we divide 300 into 365 days, sad as it is, one child dies almost every day or two. According to the opinion of experts, these are cases in which there is no chance of saving the child…”, and then the minister added that the number of deaths is gradually decreasing in Armenia.
During another “Sharp Corner” broadcast, a report titled “Autocratic and Haughty” questions the reform by Arsen Torosyan according to which the “Institute of Chief Specialists” appointed by the Minister and preserved from the Soviet times will be dissolved, and instead there will be advisers that will help the Ministry of Health in developing sectorial policies, analyzing the situation in the field and implementing various expert examinations.
The reporter gives the following formulations in the report: “… The minister’s order, as they say, was a thunderstorm in a clear sky. Though the author described it as a turning point and a reform breaking stereotypes, it is regarded as an unbalanced or ill-balanced step among the professionals, first because of not appointing advisers for a number of professions, as well as depriving a number of well-known doctors of the rank of the chief specialist with a single stroke of the pen.”
This is followed by the comments selected by the journalist where citizens are not positive about this decision. It is noteworthy that only negative comments are presented, further supporting the opinion of doctors who commented earlier. i.e. that the criterion of changes was not professionalism, but the aspiration of the minister to get rid of his non-friends.
It should be reminded that PanArmenian Media Group belongs to the retired President Serzh Sargsyan’s son-in-law Mikayel Minasyan. Recently, major financial violations were revealed in “Grigor Lusavorich” Medical Center belonging to his father Ara Minasyan. Ara Minasyan was dismissed from the post by the Minister’s decree.
Karine Kirakosyan
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