Public health in Armenia is often entangled in geopolitical and commercial manipulation. On one side, Russian media promoted its own vaccines while discrediting Western ones; on the other, anti-globalist groups spread conspiracy theories about Bill Gates. Against this global backdrop, local fraudsters have become active too – using deep-fake technology to create fake ads that exploit celebrities. Citizens thus find themselves caught in an information crossfire where their health becomes a matter of speculation – and even business.

16.10.2025

Fake Medicines

The rapid spread of AI technologies, especially in video production, has created fertile ground for health-related disinformation in Armenia. Fake ads for medicines have become common online. Most are deep-fake videos in which the likenesses of well-known doctors, singers, or TV hosts are used to promote dubious drugs.

One frequent target is the internationally recognised cardiovascular surgeon Bagrat Alekian, who has been falsely portrayed as the inventor of “miracle cures” for hypertension or back pain. Singers such as Tata Simonyan and TV host Petros Ghazaryan have also been targeted using the same tactic. Scammers take footage from old interviews and, through AI, alter the voice to insert fabricated claims. These videos are distributed via suspicious social-media pages often run from abroad – Kazakhstan or Ukraine, for instance.

To enhance credibility, fraudsters also create fake news sites that mimic official media, such as the state-run Armenpress agency. In another case, scammers used footage of a journalist from RFE/RL’s Armenian service to claim that a well-known doctor, Artavazd Sahakyan, was killed after giving a “shocking interview” about a miracle drug. This, too, was false – a hoax exposed by CivilNet’s team.

The goal of such videos is to sell unregistered, unverified medicines that doctors in Armenia do not prescribe.

The Fight Against COVID-19

The struggle against the coronavirus in Armenia quickly became politicized. Each wave of the pandemic triggered renewed disinformation from political groups and movements.

The rapid and seemingly uncontrollable spread of infection eroded public trust in the authorities. Anti-vaccination activists filled that information vacuum with falsehoods. Lacking scientific or statistical grounding, their statements relied on political slogans and emotional appeals.

Even before COVID-19, anti-vaccine movements had circulated misinformation about the Gardasil vaccine since 2017. When the pandemic struck, these groups redirected their efforts toward coronavirus-related falsehoods.

Their main claims included:

• “The coronavirus is man-made.” The World Health Organisation has found no evidence for this, identifying the virus as of animal origin.
• “Vaccines are unsafe and untested.” In reality, all vaccines used in Armenia passed the required safety procedures and were authorised by international and local regulators.
• “Vaccines cause infertility or HIV/AIDS.” These claims are false. Over a thousand pregnant women in Armenia were vaccinated, with healthy births recorded. A temporary rise in HIV cases cited by Marina Khachatryan was linked to a free-testing campaign, not to vaccination.
• “Masks are harmful.” Science does not support the notion that masks cause oxygen deprivation.

From the outset, Russian media launched an information campaign claiming that Western vaccines such as Pfizer or Moderna were dangerous or ineffective, while promoting Russia’s Sputnik V as the safest and most efficient, despite limited clinical data.

False stories circulated that over 40 children died during Pfizer trials in Ukraine, or that 120,000 U.S. children had perished from vaccination. To “prove” such claims, disinformation channels cited a fabricated preprint masquerading as a Lancet study that the journal never accepted for publication.

The Crusade Against Globalism

Within broader efforts to counter globalisation – driven largely by Russia’s conservative political circles—prominent figures in world politics and business have become propaganda targets. A recurring claim is that they seek to “reduce the global population through vaccination.”

This conspiracy theory, which dates back at least to 2010, often focuses on billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, whose foundation has long funded global immunisation programs. Over the years, false allegations have circulated that he intends to depopulate the planet through vaccines.

The examined cases – from fake drug promotions to politicised anti-vaccine movements – pursue a common goal: exploiting fear and ignorance for financial or political gain. Protecting public health, therefore, requires a comprehensive approach that addresses both exposure to false information and the active dissemination of verified data from trustworthy sources.

Source: https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/980242/health-disinformation-in-armenia-from-medicines-to-vaccines/