Almost Br2.3 billion will be allocated for providing rehabilitation aids to disabled individuals of groups I-II in the Vitebsk region

June 10, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Almost Br2.3 billion will be allocated this year for providing technical means of social rehabilitation to disabled persons of groups I-II, as reported today at a meeting of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee by Mikhail Leshchinsky, Chairman of the Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Population of the Regional Executive Committee. In the Vitebsk region, about 3.6 thousand disabled persons of groups I-II are provided with technical means of social rehabilitation at the expense of the budget: prosthetic and orthopedic products, therapeutic and bandage products, and mobility aids. At the same time, according to the committee, more than 14 thousand disabled persons of group III need rehabilitation aids. In accordance with the legislation, they must purchase these means at their own expense. However, due to the high cost, the proportion of rehabilitation aids received by them out of the total number of recipients has decreased from 30% in 2007 to 5% in 2008. In order to minimize forced refusal, disabled persons of group III are provided with state targeted social assistance and assistance from the social protection fund of the population to partially compensate for the costs of purchasing rehabilitation aids. Children under 18 who are not recognized as disabled but need rehabilitation aids for medical reasons are in a similar situation. Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Alexander Kosinets emphasized the need for close attention from the local authorities to the problems of people with disabilities. He instructed the financial department of the regional executive committee and the committee for labor, employment and social protection of the regional executive committee to work out the issue of the possibility of paying for vital technical means of social rehabilitation for children under 18 who are not recognized as disabled but need these means for medical reasons, as well as for disabled persons of group III, at the expense of the regional budget, taking into account the State Register of Technical Means of Social Rehabilitation. -0-