Radu Raicu, president of the Association of Persons with Disabilities Egalitate, says that people with disabilities are usually left to their own devices, are often unprotected, not promoted and even discriminated against, in violation of international conventions and national laws.

“Too often, legal guarantees for people with disabilities remain only on paper”, Radu Raicu said during a press conference on Wednesday.

Raicu noted that health protection is considered one of the most important rights in Moldova. “This right is not fully respected in the case of people with disabilities. Arriving at the door of an office for medical tests, people with disabilities have to wait in line, and if they want a more extensive consultation, they have to wait longer, even if they have medical insurance”.

People with disabilities who are employed pay from one thousand to six thousand lei into the national public budget every month for medical insurance and, when they get to schedule a visit to the doctor, they are made to wait. The request of the Egalitate NGO is that the authorities provide an easier way for disabled people who need medical care.

The right to education of disabled people is not respected as it should be, says Raicu. In the case of children with disabilities, who are 11.5 thousand in number, many things are not considered. “Often children with Down syndrome, those with locomotor disabilities or mental conditions are not accepted in kindergarten, thus being discriminated against because of their medical situation. And at school, from the 5th grade, the teacher no longer comes to the children in the classroom, but the students have to relocate to different rooms, a dangerous practice in the case of children with special educational requirements as it increases the risk of injury”.

There are 182 thousand people with disabilities in Moldova, or 7.5% of the population.