Armenian Men Mainly See their Doctor When Forced by their Wives

During the 14 years of its inception, the Armenian-American Wellness Center (Mammography Center) has seen 231,747 patients. Every year 20,000 women come to get checked. Since it opened its doors in 1997, 136,341 women have been checked for breast cancer, 6,500 of whom were then diagnosed with breast cancer.

“If during its creation, there were 2–3 people coming to the Center, well today the Center sees on average 80–100 visitors daily. Up to now the cost of a prophylactic visit [i.e. a regular check-up] is 11,000 drams [about $30 USD], which has never been subject to change,” said the center’s co-founder and co-president Hranush Hakobyan, speaking to journalists in the Armenian capital today.

Dr. Hakobyan notes that the increase in the number of visitors shows that the culture of seeing your doctor regularly is beginning to take root in Armenia and women are starting to realize that they must get checked as a preventative measure at least once a year.

Head of the urology department Ruben Hovhannisyan, in turn, said that men are also beginning to embrace the practice of seeing their doctor regularly — though men are forced to do so by the women.

“It’s true that men come to the center compelled by women [presumably their wives], but I can cite cases when a man has come and said he has no complaints, but would like to be sure that he is healthy,” said the doctor.

According to the Center’s co-president, they teach patients how to live a healthy lifestyle so that they avoid a diagnosis of cancer as much as possible.

“The American school [of thought] teaches that in order to avoid cancer, one must consume daily a lot of tomatoes, dark chocolate, vegetables, poultry, seafood and red wine. American experts say that red wine, with dark chocolate, is a little preventative measure for the organism,” said Dr. Hakobyan.