INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT OF EQUAL ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The right to equal access to health care is a fundamental irrevocable right for every person which should be guaranteed in every legal system. It is clear from the established international standards in the field of health that the right of access to healthcare guarantees universal access on an equal basis to really available quality and acceptable health services and health facilities. According to the World Health Organization, access to health services also includes health promotion and disease prevention. In regard to people with disabilities and disadvantaged people, ensuring effective access to healthcare is extremely important, in mind their vulnerability and increased need for moral, social and financial support. The international community has always paid serious attention to the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of people with disabilities, especially their health care rights. Evidence for this positive policy is the many legal acts adopted within the United Nations system and within the European Union.The most important of these acts are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, all adopted by the United Nations, as well as the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the European Disability Strategy and other European acts. The listed legal instruments proclaim the right of every person to the highest attainable standard of health and as an element of it is protected and the right to equal access to quality health care for all persons.At the same time with creating an appropriate legal framework to protect the health rights of people with disabilities, specialized bodies have been set up within the United Nations system and within the European Union to monitor and control the implementation of international treaties. This approach of the international community deserves support, as only the introduction of comprehensive and adequate measures could provide for a sufficiently high level of protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, who as full citizens of society should have equal and appropriate conditions for full exercising their subjective health rights, without discrimination on the basis of their disability.