OSVRT NA PRAVA DECE SA INVALIDITETOM SA TEŽIŠTEM NA PRISTUP ZDRAVSTVENIM USLUGAMA

Abstract

It is no coincidence that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first international human rights treaty in the 21st century. The Convention seeks to amend the social and legal status of persons with disabilities, including children, in a revolutionary way. The main goal is to remove social barriers by adopting a social model of disability in recognizing and exercising the human rights of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with other persons. Therefore, it is understandable that the rules of earlier international human rights treaties, such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or the European Convention on Human Rights, are beginning to be directly adjusted to the this Convention. From the aspect of recognition and exercising of the rights of children with disabilities, the issue of accessibility to health care services is especially important. It insists on the application of the principles of reasonable accommodation, accessibility and non-discrimination so that children with disabilities have access to health care facilities on an equal basis with other children. This implies significant involvement of the state, local community and family in order to remove social and infrastructural barriers. Furthermore, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities calls for an absolute ban on the forced detention and placement of children in health care facilities, while there is a very negative attitude towards the care of children with disabilities in social protection institutions. In this regard, an amendment to the domestic Law on the Protection of Persons with Mental Disabilities is required. According to the social model of disability, the family environment with the appropriate and effective support of the local community is a necessary environment for the realization of the rights of children with disabilities. When it comes to the consent of a child with a disability to a medical treatment, it is necessary to determine the child's capability to form views, as in the case of other children. In that sense, the mentioned child should be provided with appropriate assistance and support to express his / her views. This support consists primarily in the way in which the child is informed about the proposed medical treatment.