• Conduct public relations and community mobilization activities in the US and Armenia in support of the AACA and the WHCA and their humanitarian activities that relate to women’s health care in Armenia.
• Continue educating the public through outreach by organizing scientific, cultural, educational, and social activities; raise awareness and educate the public about breast cancer, cervical cancer, and other women’s and general public health issues in Armenia.
• Conduct and coordinate a functional, architectural, and biomedical survey of the building in which AAWC is located to assess renovation costs for converting the center into a comprehensive Wellness Center.
• Complete renovations, furnishing and staffing and maintain operations of the AAWC Satellite Clinic in Gavar, which will include breast cancer screening and western-style primary health care for the population of the entire Geghargkunik Marz (population approximately 200,000).
• Evaluate, revise and strengthen management, accounting, medical and administrative recordkeeping procedures and practices at the AAWC, its satellite offices and the AACA and the WHCA.

2000

• The partners signed a memorandum of understanding.
• The partnership organized the Annual Health Walk through downtown Yerevan on October 7 as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Armenia. The walk focused attention on health issues facing Armenian women, raised awareness of the importance of early detection of breast cancer, and recognized the important work of the Mammography Center. Nearly 3,000 people wearing t-shirts and carrying banners and balloons participated in the event.

• The partnership officially re-opened the Armenian American Mammography University Center on March 7 after extensive renovations. The opening was attended by many Armenian government and city officials as well as by representatives from the US government and USAID.
• The partnership established a pathology lab at the AAMUC in June. A local pathologist and pathology technician were trained on the proper use of the equipment.
• To mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, 1,500 people participated in the second annual Health Walk sponsored by the partnership. To further promote their services, AAMUC provided half price mammography services during the entire month.

• Three radiologists from the Armenian American Wellness Center (AAWC) trained in stereotactic core biopsy procedures and in modern radiology and ultrasound at the Washington Hospital Center in Maryland in August. An AAWC cytologist received an intensive one-month training in cytology at the University of Southern California in August.
• On October 10, US and Armenian partners jointly conducted a conference, Medical Ethics in Armenia: Cancer Patients’ Rights to Know the Truth, at the National Academy of Sciences. Approximately 100 people attended, including the US ambassador, the Minister of Health, and several university heads.
• On October 12, approximately 3,000 people gathered to honor International Breast Health Month and women's health in Armenia and to participate in the Yerevan/Washington, DC partnership's annual Health Walk. The crowd included hundreds of women who received mammography services at the Armenian American Wellness Center, members of breast cancer survivor groups, medical students and physicians, Ministry of Health staff, students and teachers from local schools, and AAWC staff members and their families. Among the non-Armenian attendees were AIHA partners from Yerevan/Washington, DC, and other partnerships, representatives of USAID/Armenia, and ambassadors from foreign embassies.

• A physician from the Yerevan/Washington partnership won a $20,000 grant from PATH to conduct Pap smears for indigent women in Yerevan and rural areas of Armenia. The LRC and internet connectivity was instrumental in enabling the physicians in the center to apply for and receive the award.
• The Gavar Clinic officially opened on July 6. Over 250 people attended the opening ceremony, including dignitaries, international community representatives, US government, private agencies, and non-profit organizations.
• As part of Breast Cancer Awareness month the AAWC conducted an annual Health walk on October 11, 2003. AAWC provides a 50% discount on all breast examinations during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

• In March a gynecologist and a nurse from AAWC participated in a Cervical Cancer prevention conference in Diuras, Albania. The partners made a presentation about the cervical cancer screening project of the AAWC.

Clinical Organization and Capacity Building

• The partnership officially re-opened the Armenian American Mammography University Center (now called AAWC) in March, 2001 after extensive renovations. The opening was attended by many Armenian government and city officials as well as by representatives from the US government and USAID.
• Through the work of the mammography center, the partners vastly improved screening and diagnostic capabilities both from a technical standpoint—by establishing a state-of-the art laboratory, offering on-site mammograms, and providing blind biopsy procedures—and by building the capacity of local clinicians through skills-based training. As a result, approximately 8,000 people were examined during the first year of the partnership; 8,500 during its second year; and 10,053 in 2003. More than 1,800 cases of breast cancer and cervical cancer were detected at earlier stages. Thus, due to early detection, mortality rates are decreasing.
• In addition to providing high-quality healthcare, the Armenian-American Wellness Center served as a teaching center for students and residents of Yerevan State Medical University.
• The partnership opened a satellite clinic in Gavar, in the Gegarkunik Region, in the summer of 2003 after extensive renovations and staff training. This facility provides primary health care services to the local community and serves as another hub for breast health education and screening outreach. In the first year the center served over 2500 patients.
• The Grant/Riverside Hospital in Columbus, Ohio donated a mammography van to the partnership. The van was converted into a mobile clinic staffed by an AAWC family physician that can provide free primary care services to patients in rural regions of Armenia.

Community Outreach

• With an initial focus on raising public awareness about breast cancer, AIHA’s Yerevan/Washington, DC partners made great strides toward erasing the stigma associated with cancer and educated thousands of people about the necessity of preventive examinations. Community outreach activities including surveys, lectures, informative radio and television programs, and the distribution of hundreds of thousands of booklets have contributed greatly to changing people’s attitudes and health-related behaviors.
• In coordination with the Armenian Ministry of Health, the partners were able to have October designated as Breast Cancer Awareness month. Throughout the month, the wellness center offered a 50% discount to encourage women to seek preventative care. The partners also organized medical conferences, seminars and roundtables devoted to breast cancer, medical ethics and other women’s health topics. The events have received television coverage which exposed more members of the community to information about the center’s activities and pursuit of excellence.
• Each year during Breast Cancer Awareness month, the partnership organized health marches. The event, coordinated in conjunction with other NGOs, US and Armenian governmental officials, and local health care providers, attracted thousands of members of the community and grew in size each year as word-of-mouth spread. Activities included the distribution of t-shirts, dissemination of health promotion posters, and performances by local students and musicians.
• The partners also had essay competitions among schoolchildren. Approximately 150 children from 15 schools were encouraged to write about the topic “For the Health of My Mother.” This activity helped to enlist the younger generation in caring about the health of their mothers and helping to prevent breast cancer.
• The partners reached out to the community by providing free medical services for people with low income, acquiring and distributing corporate donations of breast prostheses to 545 women, and the creation of survivor’s support groups.