New Council of Europe recommendations on trans health care

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called in a recent Resolution for equal access to health care for transgender persons. “The Assembly notes that inequalities in access to care, including mental health care, particularly affect vulnerable groups, including…transgender persons.”

The Assembly calls upon member states to:

– “ensure that the cost of care does not hinder access to care”

– “ensure the accessibility of health-care facilities and health professionals”

– “ensure the accessibility of information on the health system, including vaccination and screening programmes, and set up health education programmes, while taking account of the specific needs of the different vulnerable groups”

– “simplify the administrative procedures required to be able to receive health care”

– “introduce training policies for health professionals stressing the need to combat arbitrary applications, discrimination”

Read the full Resolution 1946 (2013) here:http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/Doc/XrefViewPDF.asp?FileID=19991&Language=en

Additionally,  20 Parliamentarians critiqued Lithuania for its failure to implement the European Court of Human Rights judgment on access to gender reassignment treatment, saying this prolongs inhuman treatment of transgender persons in the country. In 2007, the European Court of Human Rights ruled inL v Lithuaniathat clear procedures for access to gender reassignment need to be installed. On March 23 2013, the Lithuanian Parliament gave initial support to an Civil Code amendment that would result in prohibition of gender reassignment surgery in the country.

Read the statement here:http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/XRef/X2H-DW-XSL.asp?fileid=20008&lang=EN