no. 07-00-00545/2022-02 date: 24.2.2023.

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint filed by AA against BB due to discrimination against persons with disabilities. The complaint states that persons with disabilities cannot use the services of the dental and gynecological services because these services are located on the first floor, in a building where there is no elevator or platform, which prevents persons with disabilities from using health services. In BB’s statement, among other things, it was specified that it is true that there is no elevator in BB, but that this is not a reason why someone would be denied the provision of health care and that for every person who needs dental or gynecological services, which are located on the first floor of the institution, it was possible to be carried by two people on a chair to the doctor’s office so that they could be provided with health care. The statement also specified that it is not known that any health center in Serbia has an elevator installed and that it is not even possible to do so for technical reasons in BB. No evidence was submitted in the annex to the statement. In this regard, it is indisputable that the BB facility is not fully accessible to people with disabilities. The Law on Prevention of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities prescribes the obligation of the owner, i.e. the user, to ensure access to the object in public use as well as the adaptation of the object to make it accessible to persons with disabilities, regardless of the degree of their disability, whereby this law defines the concept of object in public use, where facilities in the field of healthcare stand out. The positive regulations of the Republic of Serbia undoubtedly prescribe the duty to ensure the accessibility of buildings and areas in public use, including health facilities, which is only one of the elements of the broader right of access. The General Comment no. 2 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that health and social care will remain inaccessible to persons with disabilities if the buildings where health and social care services are provided are inaccessible. Proceeding from regulations that are binding in terms of ensuring the accessibility of facilities in public use for persons with disabilities, the Commissioner issued the opinion that BB, by failing to ensure accessibility to the services of dental and gynecological services, violated the provisions of Articles 6, 17 and 26 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, in connection with the provision of Article 13 of the Law on Prevention of Discrimination of Persons with Disabilities. BB was recommended to ensure the accessibility of dental and gynecology services to persons with disabilities in accordance with the current regulations and standards of accessibility, as well as to take care in the future not to violate legal regulations on the prohibition of discrimination.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković