The cooperation between the Ministry of Health and the Council for the Prevention and Combating of Discrimination is minimal, the two institutions often going to court to represent the opposite parties of the trial. This was one of the subjects discussed in a press club meeting entitled “What does the state do to prevent cases of discrimination in medical institutions?”, which was staged by the Journalistic Investigations Center, IPN reports.
Lawyer Doina Ioana Straisteanu, who is a member of the Council for the Prevention and Combating of Discrimination, referred to the Ministry’s position on the Council’s recommendations concerning the treatment of patients at the psychiatric hospital in Codru town of Chisinau municipality. The Ministry of Health sued the Council, denying that the patients with mental disorders are discriminated at this hospital
The lawyer criticized the Ministry’s Order No.100 of April 1, 2014, under which the healthcare services during delivery for women with HIV/AIDS will be concentrated in the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti. The Ministry sued again the Council because it recommended modifying the order so that the services for mothers with HIV/AIDS are provided at medical-sanitary institutions situated within the area where these women live. The Ministry uses tactics to frighten the judges, saying that AIDS is an incurable disease that imminently leads to death.
Igor Chilcevschi, head of the League of People Living with HIV, also criticized this order. “How can a woman from Cimislia who is in delivery get to Chisinau?” he asked. According to him, the doctors often profit from the patients’ situation, making them feel inferior so that they feel obliged to offer bribe for the services they need.
UN consultant at the Ministry of Health Inga Pasecinic said that a commission was recently created at the Ministry to prevent and combat cases of discrimination. The people can use the green line (022) 72-10-10 to file complaints or can do it directly at the Ministry every Monday. The complaints will be examined by the commission. There are also organized antidiscrimination seminars with managers of medical institutions. The managers are very receptive and even ask that more such meetings be organized.
The other participants’ opinions about the commission were divergent. Doina Ioana Straisteanu expressed her skepticism, saying it is only an attempt to imitate the Antidiscrimination Council. For his part, Igor Chilcevschi warned that if the new commission turns out to be inefficient and will not bring about changes in the Ministry’s policy, the organization he heads will mount public protests. Arcadie Astrahan, consultant at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, considers that namely such a commission will help improve the Ministry’s capacity to identity cases of discrimination. He underlined that the discriminated persons often do not realize that they are discriminated, especially when it is indirect or systemic discrimination.
The Council for the Prevention and Combating of Discrimination is an autonomous public authority set up under the Law on Equality of Chances of March 25, 2012. The Council’s members are named by Parliament for a five-year period. The Council now includes Oxana Gumennaia, Doina Ioana Straisteanu, Andrei Brighidin, Lucia Gavrilita, and Ian Feldman. Each member is an independent, politically nonaffiliated expert with considerable experience in the area of human rights protection.
