Turpanjian School of Public Health at 49th Union World Conference on Lung Health

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THE HAGUE, The Netherlands – October 24-27, Senior Researcher Dr. Arusyak Harutyunyan (MPH ’09) of the Avedisian Onanian Center for Health Services Research and Development (CHSR), American University of Armenia (AUA) Turpanjian School of Public Health (SPH), was competitively selected to participate and present at the 49th Union World Conference on Lung Health. The conference was themed “Declaring Our Rights: Social and Political Solutions,” and is the world’s largest gathering of clinicians and public health professionals, policymakers, researchers and advocates working to end the suffering caused by lung diseases worldwide, with a particular focus on the challenges faced by low- and lower-middle income populations.

Dr. Harutyunyan made a short oral presentation on “Opportunities and threats of smoking cessation counseling for tuberculosis (TB) patients: a qualitative study in Armenia.” The talk summarized the results of the qualitative research implemented within the scope of the “Integrating evidence-based tobacco control services into tuberculosis control in Armenia” project, supported by the Global Bridges Healthcare Alliance for Tobacco Dependence Treatment hosted by the Mayo Clinic and Pfizer Independent Grants for Learning and Change (IGLC). Dr. Harutyunyan was awarded a partial scholarship from the Coordinating Committee of Scientific Activities to participate in the conference. The abstract book of the conference was published in the special issue of the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) 2018, volume 22, number 11, supplement 2.

Dr. Harutyunyan, along with AUA alumni Lusine Kocharyan (MPH ’13), the Director of the National Tuberculosis Control Center (NTCC) and Karapet Davtyan (MPH ’09), World Health Organization (WHO) Temporary Adviser on Research and Development, had a unique opportunity to be among thousands of delegates from more than 125 countries and recognized global experts and opinion formers from all over the world to present Armenia’s efforts and progress in TB and tobacco control.

The AUA Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of public health professionals to be leaders in public health, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.