The AIDS Prevention Center in Yerevan closes and merges with the Nork Infection Clinic Hospital.

The functions of none of these centers neither will be reduced, nor will there be any reductions among health workers, Armenian health minister Arsen Torosyan told reporters on Friday.

According to him, several decades ago, there was a need for a separate specialized center that would deal only with this disease as it became known about HIV infection and AIDS. But today, according to international recommendations, there is no need for this.

The minister noted there is no talk about optimizing the buildings occupied by these centers. It is also unknown how the issue will be resolved with the leadership of both centers. Both centers will remain in their places, but it is possible that they can share common resources - technical, personnel and so on.

As for patients, no changes are expected in the near future: they will receive their antiretroviral therapy the same way as before, the minister said.

The decision to merge the Republican AIDS Prevention Center CJSC and the Nork Infectious Clinic Hospital CJSC was made by the Armenian government on Thursday.