For Immediate Release
April 25, 2008

WORK BEHIND THE DOORS:
KARABAKH TELECOM ENSURES SUCCESS
OF ARMENIA FUND’S TELEMEDICINE NETWORK

NEW YORK, New York — Armenia Fund USA is pleased to announce Karabakh Telecom’s continued support for the Fund’s Telemedicine Program aimed at improving delivery of medical care to the underserved rural communities in Armenia and Karabakh. Working behind the doors, Karabakh Telecom has been ensuring the success of each and every telemedicine session since the launch of the program in 2005.

Telemedicine is an innovative approach to medical care linking a physician with a patient in a remote area. The state-of-the-art medical technology makes it possible to ignore constraints of time and distance, and with the concurrent advancement of Internet and digital communication, it revolutionizes the way healthcare is delivered to people in dire need.

While the launch of Armenia Fund’s Telemedicine Program, with the installation of equipment and provision of adequate technical training to the medical team, was a success with the completion of Armine Pagoumian Polyclinic in Stepanakert, the actual connection of remote regions to the Telemedicine network remained a serious challenge. “This is where Karabakh Telecom partnership added so much value to our program”, says Raffi Festekjian, Chairman of Armenia Fund USA, “We never thought it would actually be possible to conduct these advanced medical training sessions so early and make it available to some of the most underserved communities in the country.”

Indeed, Karabakh Telecom provided Armenia Fund USA with the necessary high speed Internet connection that has made possible a series of telemedicine seminars since September of 2007. But this was only the beginning. With the successful installation of equipment in Stepanakert, Karabakh Telecom announced it will continue providing service to the Fund’s Telemedicine program free of charge.

“Karabakh Telecom strongly believes that a strong society is the foundation of a strong nation, and accordingly whatever a commercial institution receives from society in terms of revenues, it should return part of it back to society by other means,” says Ralph Yirikian at Karabakh Telecom. “Today there are over 650 needy families and individuals, 40 charitable and non-profit organizations, as well as 4 educational institutions that have benefited or are benefiting all year round from assistance programs sponsored by Karabakh Telecom. In 2007, thirteen children parks were built across the country and three thousand trees have been planted.”

Recently, Karabakh Telecom took a serious interest in the domain of health care. It sponsored a country wide vaccination drive to combat measles and rubella; donated four ambulances and one transportable incubator. This year $1.5 Million will be dedicated to country wide health care programs.

On September 14, 2007, Armenia Fund USA, in partnership with the Yerevan State Medical University of Armenia, launched for the first time a telemedicine seminar connecting the Stepanakert Polyclinic in Karabakh with the Arabkir Medical Center in Yerevan. The purpose of this innovative information-sharing mechanism was to deliver a full range of up-to-date medical lectures on preventative and adolescence care. Two other seminars on pediatric care and infectious diseases were successfully held in February of 2008 connecting Columbia University’s Medical Center in New York, USA with Salzburg, Yerevan and Stepanakert (For more information on the latest telemedicine sessions, please visit www.ArmeniaFundUSA.org).

ABOUT ARMENIA FUND USA: founded in 1992, was one of the first of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s 18 international affiliates and serves constituents in all states east of the Mississippi. As a non-profit, non-governmental, nonsectarian organization, the Fund represents all Armenian constituents. Armenia Fund USA is the largest contributor among the 18 international affiliates – supporting strategic infrastructure projects in Armenia and Karabakh. The Fund has adopted a policy to go “Beyond Bricks and Mortar” to provide sustainability for projects it sponsors.

To learn more about Armenia Fund USA, please visit our website at
www.ArmeniaFundUSA.org or call us at 212-689-5307.