Health Disinformation in Armenia: From Medicines to Vaccines

Armenia’s Public Health Caught in Crossfire of Disinformation Campaigns

Public health in Armenia has become entangled in a complex web of geopolitical manipulation and commercial exploitation, leaving citizens struggling to separate fact from fiction in matters critical to their wellbeing.

On one side, Russian media outlets have actively promoted domestic vaccines while discrediting Western alternatives. Simultaneously, anti-globalist groups have spread conspiracy theories targeting figures like Bill Gates. Adding to this confusion, local fraudsters have deployed sophisticated AI technology to create deceptive advertisements that exploit the likeness of Armenian celebrities.

The surge in AI-generated deepfake videos has created particularly fertile ground for health-related disinformation in Armenia. These sophisticated forgeries frequently feature well-known Armenian public figures falsely endorsing questionable medical products.

Cardiovascular surgeon Bagrat Alekian has repeatedly been falsely portrayed as the inventor of “miracle cures” for common ailments like hypertension and back pain. Popular figures such as singer Tata Simonyan and television host Petros Ghazaryan have similarly been exploited through manipulated footage of previous interviews, with their voices altered using AI to make fraudulent claims.

To enhance the illusion of legitimacy, scammers have created counterfeit news sites mimicking established media outlets, including the state-run Armenpress agency. In one particularly alarming case, footage of a journalist from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Armenian service was misappropriated to falsely claim that physician Artavazd Sahakyan had been killed after revealing information about a “miracle drug”—a complete fabrication later exposed by CivilNet investigators.

These sophisticated disinformation campaigns typically originate from foreign countries, with many traced back to operators in Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Their ultimate goal is straightforward: selling unregistered, unverified medications that legitimate Armenian healthcare providers do not prescribe.

The COVID-19 pandemic amplified Armenia’s vulnerability to health disinformation. As the virus spread, public confidence in authorities waned, creating an information vacuum quickly filled by anti-vaccination activists armed with unfounded claims. These movements, which had previously focused on spreading misinformation about the Gardasil vaccine since 2017, pivoted seamlessly to coronavirus-related falsehoods.

Common fabrications included claims that the coronavirus was laboratory-created—contrary to World Health Organization findings identifying its animal origin—and that vaccines were rushed through safety protocols. More extreme falsehoods alleged that vaccines caused infertility or HIV/AIDS, despite evidence that pregnant women in Armenia safely received vaccinations with no adverse outcomes for their babies.

Russian media sources played a particularly influential role, characterizing Western vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna as dangerous while promoting Russia’s Sputnik V as superior, despite limited clinical data supporting such assertions. Fabricated stories circulated widely, including claims that dozens of children died during Pfizer trials in Ukraine or that 120,000 American children perished following vaccination—assertions supported by a counterfeit study falsely attributed to The Lancet medical journal.

These health-focused disinformation efforts exist within a broader campaign against globalization, driven largely by Russia’s conservative political circles. This narrative frequently targets prominent international figures, including Bill Gates, whose philanthropic foundation has long supported global immunization initiatives. A persistent conspiracy theory dating back more than a decade falsely alleges that Gates intends to reduce global population through vaccination programs.

What unites these diverse disinformation campaigns—from AI-generated pharmaceutical advertisements to politically motivated anti-vaccine movements—is their exploitation of public fears and knowledge gaps for financial or political advantage. Protecting Armenian public health therefore requires not only combating exposure to false information but also actively disseminating verified data through trustworthy channels.

As digital technologies continue advancing, the sophistication of health-related disinformation will likely increase, making media literacy and robust fact-checking mechanisms essential safeguards for Armenia’s public health landscape.