Conference of military doctors kicks off in Yerevan.

The Defense Ministry has opened a conference dedicated to military medicine, its history and future development.

The meeting marks the series of events dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Armenian army. It is attended by National Assembly Chairman Samvel Nikoyan, Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, President of the Yerkrapah Volunteers Union Manvel Grigoryan, and officers, generals and doctors.

In his opening speech, Rector of the State Medical University Derenik Dumanyan introduced the large-scale achievements in military medicine in the past 18 years and spoke of their future plans.

“The development of military medicine went hand in hand with the Armenian army’s accomplishment. The Military-Medical Division was established in 1992 as a subdivision of the Armenian army and undertook the expansion of the military hospitals of Yerevan’s central garrison,” he said.

Dumanyan noted that 11,000 heroes fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia’s border regions underwent different surgeries, and 8,900 returned to the battlefield.

“A military doctor takes an oath twice - as a soldier and as a physician -, and that’s a double honor, as well as a double responsibility,” he said, adding that the army could not have come into existence without military medicine.

Dumanyan noted that the Military-medical Department, which opened in 1994 (after the signing of the ceasefire accord between Armenia and Azerbaijan), is now a serious and accomplished body.

Congratulating the participants once again on the 20th anniversary of the national army, Minister Ohanyan attached a special importance to the physician’s role in army building efforts.

“Doctors’ relationship with the army is unique. An Armenian medical worker’s involvement [in the military] is special in that he appeared on the frontline with volunteers much before the army was built. They all performed the difficult task with honor. Seventy percent of those injured returned to the battlefield,” he noted.

Highly praising doctors’ role in the military, the National Assembly speaker said in his speech that they add to the power of the army.

“They were not specialized in military medicine in the war period, but they did become a considerate commander for the soldier and an obedient soldier for the commander. Some of them sacrificed their life despite their mission to save lives,” he said.