YEREVAN, APRIL 14, NOYAN TAPAN. Phytotherapy, homeopathy, acupuncture, as well as use of bees and leeches in treatment of various diseases are especially widespread in Armenia among methods of alternative and traditional medicine. As Mkrtich Avagian, the Chief of the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Department of the National Health Care Institute mentioned in the interview to the Noyan Tapan correspondent, traditional Indian medicine is insufficiently developed in the republic. According to M.Avagian, at present the department is doing work for developing this direction of the medicine in the country. Particularly, they are cooperating with the Embassy of India to the RA, for organizing training of Armenian specialists in India. According to M.Avagian, Armenia is among those countries where traditional medicine is officially accepted and used along with modern medicine. It was also mentioned that doctors' interest in use of alternative and traditional medicine is increasing each year. According to M.Avagian, "a choice of combination of the best methods of traditional and modern medicine" is made at the "AltMed" alternative and traditional medical center founded on the basis of the department in 2000. New developments in reflex therapy, manual therapy, phytotherapy and homeopathy are used in the center.

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