Russia: report on the protection of the rights of people with disabilities
A report on the protection of the rights of people with disabilities to be published in July
27.06.2025
Article published on the ASI website
The report’s author Tatyana Moskalkova is recommending a review of the accessibility of transport for people with disabilities and for improvements to be made in the diagnosis of rare diseases.
On 14 July, Russia’s Human Rights Ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova will submit her report on the Protection of the Rights of People with Disabilities in the Russian Federation to an extended meeting of five State Duma Committees, reports Vedomosti.
According to the newspaper, Moskalkova will ask the Prosecutor General’s Office to check current compliance with the accessibility requirements for disabled people at bus stations and as passengers during their journey by organisations and individual entrepreneurs.
The report states that the number of complaints highlighting the lack of a proper accessible environment for disabled people (around 28-29 per year) has remained constant. Despite a general improvement in the national transport infrastructure, Russia still lacks step-free transport and social taxis.
The document also recommends that the Ministry of Health take action to enhance the diagnosis of rare diseases, upgrade the professional qualifications needed by paediatricians, as well broadening the neonatal screening programme: in Russia, screening of newborns is currently conducted for 36 hereditary and congenital disorders.
Proposals to extend the neonatal screening programme have already been made by geneticists from Moscow’s State Research Centre which would include Duchenne myodystrophy, AADC syndrome, as well as other diseases in the programme.
“When it comes to including new diseases in the neonatal screening programme, we are talking about those for which treatment is available at the pre-clinical stage, the diagnosis of which does not require additional laboratory equipment at centres where research on an extended neonatal programme is currently being carried out”, said Sergey Kutsev, Director of the Bochkov Medical and Genetic Research Centre in Moscow.
