On 16th of March 2016, Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Gender Equality, Missing Persons and Petitions, in cooperation with KDI and HandiKOS, held a public hearing where the Draft Law on the status and rights of paraplegic and tetraplegic persons was discussed. In the meantime, HandiKOS presented findings of the research they conducted regarding the topic.

 

Except MPs who are members of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Gender Equality, Missing Persons and Petitions, other participants who attended this public hearing were MPs from the Parliamentary Committee on Health; Council for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms; representatives from Deaf community; representatives from the Blind Association; HandiKOS Ferizaj; representatives from Ombudsman, OSCE, Parliamentary Research Department, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Office of the Prime Minister, OSCE and Save the Children.

 

The research, among other things, presented the content of the Draft Law, pointing out its shortcomings, ranging from wrong terminology used in the Draft Law, such as the example of “disability pension”. Further, the terminology “paraplegics and tetraplegics'. Other findings of this research showed that much remains to be done in regarding healthcare and social insurance of paraplegics and tetraplegics persons. Regarding this issue, it was also mentioned the need of expanding the powers and increase the capacities of Municipalities in local level, to be able to deliver services for the above mentioned categories. Moreover, the need for assistive devices and needs of providing social and physical rehabilitation for this category of the society was emphasized. It was also mentioned that in the countries in the region, local authorities are significantly engaged in the provision of services, compared with the central government.

 

Other issues which were discussed by the participants in the public hearing (some of them by the persons with disabilities) were; lack of caregivers to provide care and follow-up for paraplegics and tetraplegics, lack of ramps and electric wheelchairs, small pensions that fail to cover even basic needs, the unnecessary and uncalled requirement for notarized contracts which are signed by people with limited abilities, even though they are signed at the custody body.

 

 

Other issues raised were the issue of inadequate treatment of people with disabilities by Correctional Institutions, issue of non-exclusion from the costs of all means of public transport, lack of health services specific to people with disabilities unlike health services offered in family medicine centers which includes only organic  and systemic diseases , leaving aside other health problems which  this category of society may have, the issue of custom-release of the vehicles used for this category of people, the issue of education etc.