23.05.2017

The roadmap highlights the key actions needed to improve the system for determining disability by 2020.

On 20 May, Maxim Topilin, the Federation’s Labour and Social Protection Minister, approved a roadmap to improve the system of medical and social appraisals (MSAs). The main work will focus on endorsing certain classifications and criteria for determining a child’s disability. Their adoption will increase MSA objectivity in confirming a specific disability group, according to the specialists’ community and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.

In addition, a new independent medical and social institution is to be set up, tasked with developing new criteria to help determine how professional careers are affected by accidents at work. As well as working to improve the system, specialists are also proposing the introduction of a federal disabled persons’ register which would lighten the load on both doctors and the disabled.

The authors of the roadmap want to increase the availability and quality of medical and social appraisal services. To this end, it is vital to train specialists from MSA institutions and provide them with specialist diagnostic equipment, as well as establishing public councils at the main MSA offices, say experts.

“The key to successful integration is a properly organised rehab process that’s built on an individual approach”, said Alexey Cherkasov, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection, speaking at State Duma parliamentary hearings on medical and social appraisals. The process should begin as early as possible, i.e. from the moment health problems are detected. At the same time, rehab must be integrated. It’s in these MSA institutions that multi-dimensional rehab approaches are drawn up based on a disabled person’s personal circumstances. However, the process begins long before MSA kicks in, i.e. from when the disabled person is referred to a medical organisation”.

In January this year, parents of disabled children asked Moscow authorities to broaden the system of MSA specialist offices as the work of examining children and making changes to their individual rehab and habilitation programmes is very convenient.

Information note

According to figures as at 1 January 2017, there are 12,300,000 disabled people living in Russia, comprising around 8% of the general population. 60% of disabled are elderly people.

Source: https://www.asi.org.ru/news/2017/05/23/mintrud-mediko-sotsalnaya-ekspertiza-invalidy/