Dear all,

Trailblazers with Garry“ is a new series from Global Health Matters, where host Garry Aslanyan sits down with trailblazers — thinkers, leaders, and influencers shaping the future of global health — for short face-to-face conversations, available in both audio and video formats. It’s a chance to get to know the people behind the work and hear their perspectives on the current global health landscape.

In this Trailblazers episode, Garry sits down with Lena Nanushyan, First Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Armenia to speak about her work to strengthen tobacco control, a commitment that earned her a World No Tobacco Day Award from WHO in 2025. She also discusses Armenia’s efforts to reduce high out-of-pocket health payments and how the country is moving closer toward universal health coverage.

Many thanks to Garry and the Global Health Matters podcast team for another informative and inspiring episode!

The Berlin Institute for Global Health is a partner of TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases: a global programme of scientific collaboration that helps facilitate, support and influence efforts to combat diseases of poverty. It is co-sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO).