A person with disabilities is first of all a person with abilities and the creation of a favorable environment for this to develop the personality is the guarantee of personal success and of the success of the community of which such persons form part. Alongside other series that look at 2018 in retrospect, IPN comes with a series of articles about people who live with a disability and about organizations that promote the rights of these people..
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The social inclusion of persons with disabilities in 2018 was a priority for the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection. Vasile Cușca, head of the Ministry’s Division of Policies on the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, said the Ministry this year has worked out and promoted a series of policy documents and normative documents for the social inclusion of persons with disabilities. As of January 1, 2018, the state social allowances for over 27,000 adults with disabilities and approximately 12,000 children were raised by 20%.
The Ministry in 2018 reformed the disability determination system. The structure and method of organizing the functioning of the National Council for the Determination of Disability and Work Capacity were modified and a new disability determination methodology that is more objective and impartial was introduced.
Among the measures mentioned by Vasile Cușca are the approval of the national program for the deinstitutionalization of persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. By this program, the institutionalized persons can start to live independently in the community.
The concessions on the import of units of transport intended for persons with locomotor disabilities will take effect on January 1, 2019. Any person with locomotor disabilities could benefit from tax exemption on the import of a car once in five years. These persons will also not pay the road tax.
To facilitate the employment of persons with disabilities, the state as of February 1, 2019 will subsidize, during half a year, 30% of the salary of the employed person with disabilities. The employers that will adjust the workplace to the needs of persons with disabilities will benefit from subventions of 50% of the incurred costs.
Among the priorities for the next year, Vasile Cușca noted the furthered implementation of social inclusion and employment policies applying to persons with disabilities, finalization of the draft Government decision on the organization and functioning of the free telephone assistance service for persons with disabilities, finalization of the draft Government decision on the approval of the regulations concerning the organization and functioning of day centers for adults with disabilities and of minimum quality standards.
Ion Ciobanu, IPN
