The persons with disabilities and reduced work capacity will no longer be assessed according to the first, second and third invalidity degree as until recently. From January 1 the disability of the persons will be classed as severe, accentuated and average. The changes made to the legislation form part of the reforms in the area of social inclusion of persons with disabilities initiated by Moldova by ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Info-Prim Neo reports. Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family Valentina Buliga told a news conference that the reform concerning the establishment of disability and work capacity will not deprive the persons of disability degree. On the contrary, the list of diseases and disorders based on which the persons receive disability degree will be extended to 63, from 45. The persons will no longer need to regularly have their disability degree confirmed. Severe disability is characterized by severe functional deficiencies that lead to limitation in work and participation restriction, while work capacity represents 0-20%. Within accentuated disability, the work capacity is 25-40%, while within average disability - 45-60%. The persons who will have a work capacity of 65–100% will be considered able to work and will not get a disability degree. Currently, in Moldova there are over 179,000 persons with disabilities, over 14,000 of whom are children.