MOSCOW, January 16. /ITAR-TASS/. Presidential children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov told journalists on Thursday he wants to build a unified all-Russia register of handicapped children. “We are already keeping records of those staying in child health-care facilities,” he told an Itar-Tass media briefing.
But nationwide data was needed to track every sick or disabled child in the country, no matter where the individual lived, Astakhov said. Only the Ministry of Health was responsible for disabled children's registration and supervision. This process should now become interdepartmental, he said.
The register would identify whether children had all facilities the government provided, whether medical treatment was prescribed, where and when it was provided and if on time, whether rehabilitation operations were taking place and whether the child attended therapeutic resorts.
“In the event that financial questions had arisen, we have found that money allocated in the draft budget for 2013 had not been used,” the ombudsman added.
Data recording state assistance for children in special health-care centres was assembled last year by regional ombudsmen in co-operation with the Ministry of Health, Astakhov said.
“We are now creating a register covering around 20,000 disabled children. Up to now, according to data from the health ministry, coinciding with our own, all children needing high-technology medical care and surgical operations have received treatment," he added.