YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–Responding to Noyan Tapan’s request to comment on the steps being taken by the Ukrainian Embassy to prevent a mass influx of HIV-infected citizens of Ukraine to Armenia–embassy officials explained the measures by the fact that tests on Armenicum–a drug Armenian scientists claim to cure AIDS–are still in progress and their results are still to be verified.
According to R. Fufalko–third secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Armenia–an official confirmation by relevant Armenian agencies of the possibilities of and readiness for mass hospitalization of patients from abroad has not yet been made.
"The Embassy recommen’s citizens of Ukraine to refrain from private trips to Yerevan in avoidance of possible moral and financial damage," Fufalko said.
The Ukrainian Embassy spread a statement by Armenian Health Minister Hayk Nokoghossian through Ukrainian mass media inviting foreign citizens suffering from AIDS to participate in tests on Armenicum by applying to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia through Armenian diplomatic missions abroad. A necessary condition for such volunteers is that they should be first issued relevant written warran’s by the national centers for AIDS prevention of their countries.