MOSCOW, March 25 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Children Rights Commissioner Anna Kuznetsova has asked Minister of Labor and Social Policy Anton Kotyakov to undertake measures aimed to prevent violation of the right to social assistance of HIV-infected minors not registered as disabled persons, the ombudsman’s press-service informs on Wednesday.

The Children Rights Commissioner Office stresses, that it systematically receives such complaints from parents of HIV-infected children.

The federal legislation currently in force envisages that HIV-infected minors below 18 are entitled to social pensions, allowances, and social assistance similar to those introduced for disabled children; nevertheless, HIV-infected minors are not given standard disablement certificates, but only those from relevant health care centers, the statement reads.

Kuznetsova’s Office notes that across many Russia’s regions HIV-infected minors enjoy significantly less rights than disabled children because of the fact that they do not have respective certificates. Moreover, there are numerous complaints about violation of the right of children to medical secrecy in the process of documenting various social allowances and other forms of social assistance, according to the press-release.

The ombudsman believes that in the current situation the rights of HIV-infected children are violated in breach of the relevant federal law.