ABSTRACT

At 11.40 A.M. on the 5th of December 1988, an unpredicted severe earthquake destroyed three Armenian cities. Approximately 25,000 people died and more than 250,000 were injured. As soon as the Armenian earthquake disappeared from the headline news and television screens, the international medical help faded away in parallel. The department of nephrology of the University of Antwerp was approached by “Medecins sans Frontieres” to take over their position in Armenia, since the activities of this particular organization is limited to acute help and their skills and experience in nephrology were almost nonexisting. From 1988 to 2004, 35 Armenian doctors, nurses, technicians, and hospital administrators received training for several months in the hospitals. In 2005, a visit to Armenia is planned in January to discuss the implementation of the “early detection and intervention program for chronic renal disease in the Republic of Armenia” project, a new initiative of the ISN-COMGAN research committee.