To save, prolong and improve the lives of women through early and accurate detection of their breast and cervical cancer and to provide primary health care services to ensure the good health and well-being of families in Armenia.

The Wellness Center is sponsored by the US-based non-profit organization, the Armenian American Cultural Association, Inc.

About the Wellness Center

Armenia’s transition to a democratic, market-based society began with its independence from the Soviet Union in September 1991. This transformation, however, was effected adversely by the sudden collapse of the Soviet economy, and the imposition of blockades by two of its neighbors.

The government-supported healthcare system, severely undermined, was not up to the challenge of addressing the breast cancer crisis in Armenia, which was identified in 1996 as the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in Armenia by Armenia’s Minister of Health.

In response to this crisis, the Armenian American Cultural Association (AACA) organized a fact-finding mission to Armenia in 1996, and found out that the screening equipment available to women in Armenia was decades old and grossly inaccurate. Breast cancers were often detected at advanced stages when treatment was no longer beneficial, and radical mastectomies were frequently performed for non-malignant cysts. This dire situation was exacerbated further by the lack of preventive healthcare and by cultural barriers and distrust of medical institutions.

In 1997, AACA organized and led a medical mission to Armenia that included medical professionals from Washington Hospital Center and Akron City Hospital in Ohio. The medical team was comprised of two radiologists, two technologists, and a biomedical engineer who selected and trained local doctors in Armenia.

On April 28, 1997, with financial support from the Armenian Diaspora in the U.S. and equipment and supplies donated by US-based corporations, AACA opened the Armenian American Mammography University Center (later renamed the Armenian American Wellness Center) to provide accurate mammography screening for women in Armenia and the Caucasus Region for the early detection of breast cancer. AACA established the Center through a partnership with its sister organization in Armenia, the Women’s Health Care Association, in space donated by the Armenian government and renovated with funds raised by AACA.

Today, the Wellness Center’s expanded activities include:

• two satellite clinics to provide increased access to the Center’s services;
• monthly medical outreach missions to remote areas;
• public education campaigns focused on preventive care, including the Annual Health Walk each October in Yerevan in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month;
• healthcare services in gynecology, pathology and family medicine;
• free medical services provided to patients unable to pay the Center’s already modest fees.

Since its inception, the Center’s accomplishments include:

• over 60,000 patients screened for breast and cervical cancer, with thousands of lives saved through early detection;
• over 40 medical exchanges between the U.S. and Armenia as developed by members of the US Medical Advisory Board;
• partnerships formed with US-based NGOs and medical professionals from major medical institutions in the U.S.;
• Western-style accountability and transparency in a corruption free workplace, which has won the trust of the public and the respect of the medical community.

The Wellness Center is undergoing its largest expansion to date as part of a $3 million renovation of the six-story building donated to the Center by the Government of Armenia. By October 2007, thanks to the assistance of USAID and many generous Armenian-Americans, the Wellness Center will be home to a state-of-the-art primary health care facility built in accordance with Western standards of medical delivery and providing diagnosis and treatment on-site not only to women, but to men and children as well. The building itself will be seismically reinforced against future earthquakes and will utilize environmentally clean and financially sustainable energy services, to be introduced in Armenia for the first time.