YEREVAN, APRIL 24, NOYAN TAPAN. Since early 2007, only 16 out of 31 economic entities (advertisers), which applied to the RA Ministry of Health, have been given permission to advertise drugs, medical equipment or medical methods. Suren Krmoyan, legal advisor to the minister of health, told NT correspondent that applications not meeting requirements of the RA Law on Advertising were mainly rejected. For example, some applications claimed that the advertised drug has no side effects. However, according to the advisor, it is not only forbidden by law but also is impossible in reality. Besides, there have been cases of not meeting the requirement on using the main language of advertising - Armenian. Whereas, in the words of S. Krmoyan, other languages may be used only in parallel with Armenian. The ministry is conducting a monitoring to reveal cases of law violations, as a result of which 11 advertisers not having the respective permission have been revealed and warned so far. S. Krmoyan said that 3 magazines and almost all television companies have also been warned for placing advertisements not meeting law requirements. He noted that if violations are not eliminated after the warning, the ministry may bring a lawsuit to court with the request to stop advertising. "In cases of serious violations, the ministry may apply to the appropriate body on the issue of depriving the given economic entity of its license," S. Krmoyan said. According to him, a fine of 150-200 thousand drams (about 400-550 dollars) is envisaged for such violations by the draft law on making amendments and additions to the RA Code of Administrative Infractions. The draft was recently approved by the Armenian government and has already been submitted to the RA National Assemly. By the way, the RA Law on Advertising forbids advertising of prescription drugs.

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