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The law stipulates that smoking should be banned in all medical and educational institutions and that all public and state facilities designate smoking areas. Smoking should also be prohibited in public transport and at bus and railway stations.

But as the time goes, the number of smokers grows and the advertisement, in spite of the ban, continue convincing smoking is a good thing and tobacco, a pleasure.

According to Ter-Minasyan the audience is first of all the doctors of the republic, many of them having no inner belief in the danger of smoking. And like for many doctors, for the rest in Armenia smoking is still seen as a break of dull routine, alleviation of nervousness and just a habit that is too hard to quit.

“A doctor should accept the problem inside, should understand it to explain patients to convince to quit. But in Armenia more than 80 percents of the doctors are smokers which is not normal,” says Ter-Minasyan. “The law is written, but it has not reached its destination.”

To continue preaching a message that seems to not be heard, the Armenian Medical Association with the support of the Open Society Institute has initiated the RA Anti-Tobacco Policy in the Healthcare System. For the past four months the initiative has sought to increase awareness of the health risk of smoking on the very medical personnel who should be setting examples.

Over the past two months the AMA has conducted smoking surveys in 30 policlinics in Yerevan to see to what degree they are engaged in anti-tobacco practice.

During the monitoring an attempt was made to find out if people smoke in the policlinics, by looking for cigarettes butts in trash bins and ashtrays in rooms.

The survey spent about $5,000 to confirm what is obvious: the anti-tobacco campaign is hardly existent and poorly organized.

As part of its program, AMA/OSI awarded a computer to Policlinic 22 for having the fewest number of smokers on its staff. Director of the clinic Lyudmila Mkrtchyan said her staff of 130 has only two smokers.