No. 07-00-621/2023-02 date: 3.6.2024.

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint submitted by Foundation A. A. against Health Center B. B. due to discrimination based on health status. The Association informed the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality of its intention to conduct, in accordance with Article 46, Paragraph 4 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, a situational testing of potential discrimination against persons living with HIV in the area of ​​health care provision, in order to independently check whether employees in medical institutions comply with the rules on prohibition of discrimination when providing their services. In the complaint, it was stated that on November 22, 2023, at 12:25 p.m., the tester called the Private Health Center B. B. and requested the removal of warts caused by the HPV virus. She states that the employee informed her about the costs of the intervention and that she will “talk to the doctor and set an appointment”, and then informed her that there is a free slot on November 24, 2023, at 7:00 p.m., with Dr. V. J. The tester left her data and informed the employee that she was an HIV+ person, and the employee replied that she would have to consult a doctor. After that, the tester called the Health Center at 1:06 p.m., after a missed call.  She points out that the employee informed her that they are unable to provide the service because “they cannot sterilize the instruments as they do not have a special autoclave sterilizer”. In the statement and supplement to the statement of the Health Center B. B., it was specified that the intervention was canceled because the “autoclave sterilizer was being serviced”, and not because the patient stated over the phone that she was a person living with HIV. Bearing in mind the allegations from the statement, the Commissioner reviewed the submitted evidence, namely the Record of handover of the device and the Report on the repair of the device, from which it was established that the autoclave sterilizer was serviced in the period from November 21 to 25, 2023. and that on that occasion the heater on the device was replaced. In the supplement to the statement, the Health Center pointed out that in the period from November 21 to 25, 2023, not a single patient underwent surgical intervention and that they have only one autoclave sterilizer at their disposal. In support of the allegations that it does not discriminate against people living with HIV, Health Center B. B. submitted an extract from the bookkeeping program for the year 2023, as well as a photocopy of the Patient Protocol, based on which it was established that in the previous year, 119 medical services of admission and testing of patients for the HIV virus were performed. Also attached to the statement, the Health Center submitted an electronic letter from a patient living with HIV, in which it was stated that he uses the health services of the Health Center. Taking into account all the submitted evidence, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality is of the opinion that the Health Center B. B., in this particular case, did not violate the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković