OPINION

The opinion was issued in the procedure regarding the complaint of AA, filed on behalf of her underage daughter, against the Health Center “Smederevo” in Smederevo, due to discrimination on the grounds of disability. The complaint states that the School Dispensary of the Health Center “Smederevo”, which is located on the second floor, is inaccessible to people with disabilities, and that the doctors of the School Dispensary are forced to go to other offices on the ground floor and ask their colleagues to give them space to perform an examnation. It was also stated that these are mostly rooms where there are already some adult patients who are receiving certain therapies, which is why any privacy with the doctor has been violated. The complaint points out that this problem did not exist until the child’s sixth year of life, considering that the space of the children’s dispensary service, before the Covid-19 virus epidemic, was located on the ground floor where there is a ramp for people with disabilities. However, the problem arose when the child, due to its age, had to move to the School Dispensary, which is located in a separate building, the so-called “Occupational Medicine”, on the second floor, where it was also before the Covid-19 virus epidemic. It is further stated that the institution has an elevator that has not been working for two decades, as well as that the complainant addressed the Health Center in written form with a request to provide a room for children in wheelchairs on the ground floor. The statement from the Health Center said that AA was informed that the Child Health Protection Service had been temporarily relocated from its work area due to a situation caused by the Covid-19 virus epidemic. It was further stated that the complainant was explained the entire situation and suggested that she announce a visit by phone in a situation when her daughter needs to be examined, and that in that situation the pediatrician from the first floor will come downstairs and examine the child. The statement also states that it is true that from the age of seven, the complainant’s child is being treated in the Service for Health Protection of School Children and Youth, which is located on the second floor of the institution. During the procedure, it was determined that the complainant’s child has been treated since the age of seven in the Health Care Service for School Children and Youth, which is located on the second floor of the Smederevo Health Center and is inaccessible to persons with disabilities. Therefore, the Commissioner gave the opinion that the Health Center “Smederevo” in Smederevo, the Service for Health Protection of School Children and Youth is not accessible to persons with disabilities who use wheelchairs, which violates the provisions of Articles 6, 17 and 26 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, in relation with the provisions of Articles 13 and 16 of the Law on Prevention of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities. The Health Center “Smederevo” in Smederevo was recommended that, until full accessibility is provided, the Health Center, either with a new distribution of offices or otherwise, organizes work and takes all necessary measures to ensure accessibility of the Service for Health Protection of School Children and Youth to persons who use wheelchairs for moving or have difficulty moving, as well as to take care in the future not to violate the legal regulations on the prohibition of discrimination.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković