From January 1, 2019 in Armenia, a new system of medical and social  expertise

ArmInfo.Within the next month, a package of legislative changes in the field of medical and social expertise (ITU) will be submitted to the government court. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia Smbat Saiyan on February 20 at a press conference.

According to Saiyan, as of January 1, 2018, the number of disabled  people in Armenia was 193,302 people, out of whom 8231 children were  disabled. Compared to January 2017, the indicator decreased by about  13 thousand people, which is due to the activities carried out in the  past year, aimed at clarifying the law enforcement practice in the  ITU area. For those who, on the basis of the results of the second  ITU, were not recognized as disabled and left the list of persons  with disabilities, in 2017 a pilot program was tested - about 220  citizens were given the opportunity to undergo treatment in the  framework of state orders. "If the ITU has shown that the citizen now  does not have the necessary degree of limited life to recognize him  as disabled, at the same time, having realized the need to receive  appropriate medical care, the person was sent to the medication," the  deputy minister said, stressing that the budget is capable of curing  about 500 citizens, but, nevertheless, not everyone wanted to  participate in the program.

To date, as Saiyan pointed out, Armenia has taken the path of active  reforms in the sphere of recognition of disability, including the  conduct of medical and social expertise. Under the instruction of the  Prime Minister of Armenia to simplify the passage of medical and  social expertise, the agency prepared a package of proposals that  should lead to an increase in the effectiveness of the system. In  this context, relevant draft legislative acts will be sent to the  government in the near future.

The main logic of the legislative initiative of the Ministry, as  explained by Saiyan, in fact, is to clarify the responsibilities of  both the health system and social protection. In this context, it is  planned to significantly improve the quality of the organization of  the citizens' direction to ITU. At this stage, the procedure is  carried out in accordance with the established procedure by  territorial outpatient clinics. The package of legislative changes  provides for strengthening control over the process, as well as  simplifying the procedure for passing medical and social expertise.  The general logic of the formation of ITU commissions will also be  revised - the members of the commission formed on the basis of random  selection from the relevant bank of specialists will replace  permanent territorial commissions. The composition of the  commissions, as well as the venue of the ITU, will change  permanently. "Thus, for each ITU a new commission will be formed,"  the deputy minister explained. In addition, if earlier, the person  who made the disability was forced to collect a huge stack of health  documents, soon all the necessary documentation will be collected  from the Health system as ITU passes. At the same time, a so-called  user map will be implemented - a document containing information on  the state of human health and species, and the degree of disruption  of functions. This information in the document will be brought by  doctors from one of the medical centers.  "We plan to provide full  transition to the new system from January 1, 2019," Smbat Sahyan  said. As the expert admitted, the very phenomenon of ITU presupposes  a subjectivity factor. Nevertheless, the Ministry hopes that a number  of tasks in the ITU clearance process can be solved by carrying out  reforms and increasing the objectivity of the entire system.  Presently existing tasks, according to Sayyan, are caused by  imperfect procedures for sending citizens to ITU. For this, according  to the Deputy Minister, it is necessary to establish clear  legislative adjustments to the sphere, defining the scope of  responsibility of its participants throughout the chain. The next  task for the system is the lack of classified information about the  state of health of a citizen. The problem is planned to be solved  within the process of digitizing the process and introducing the  standards of the international classification of functioning, the  limitations of the vital activity of WHO. Based on the results of the  improvement of electronic infrastructures, the Ministry also hopes to  solve the task related to the low level of controllability of the  system. Earlier, on February 15 during the regular meeting of the  country's Cabinet of Ministers, the head of government Karen  Karapetyan stated that the current regulations in the sphere of  medical and social expertise are unsatisfactory. The prime minister  noted that in the process of ensuring the targeting and fairness of  services rendered in the sphere of social protection services, the  commission conducting medical and social expertise plays an important  role. Despite the earlier measures, as Karen Karapetyan noted, the  current regulations and the effectiveness of these commissions are  unsatisfactory. In particular, as the head of the Cabinet pointed  out, the activities of the commissions do not minimize the impact of  subjective factors. In addition, the procedure for registering a  disability group is incomprehensible and unpredictable, since the  system for organizing and monitoring the process for recognizing a  citizen as an invalid is inadequate. With this in mind, Karen  Karapetyan instructed the Minister of Health Levon Altunyan and the  Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Artem Asatryan to jointly  develop in the government apparatus of the republic within a month's  time the proposals aimed at qualitative changes in the sphere of  medical and social expertise.  According to the head of government,  the issue was preliminary discussed with the ministers. "The plan of  action they propose will fundamentally change the quality in this  sphere, so I'm sure that within a month we will be able to establish  new rules of the game in this area," the premier concluded, noting  that several times the experts raised the question, that the sphere  is traditionally controversial and very "seductive" in terms of  corruption risks.