Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

The World Health Assembly is being held this week in Geneva, where, among other issues, being transgender is to be removed from the list of mental disorders (depathologization). Instead, the new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) sees being transgender as a state, not a disorder.

This marks the first step at the international level towards the depathologization of transgender persons, and all member states, including Serbia, will start reporting on the use of the new classification as of 2022, leaving sufficient time for the national implementation of this document, and for performing all necessary changes at the national level.

“Health is a fundamental human right, and discrimination has a significant negative effect on health. Defining transgender persons this way in the new ICD will provide access to healthcare for transgender persons in accordance with the gender they see as their own”, said Doctor Marijan Ivanuša, Head of Office of the World Health Organization in Serbia at an event on this topic gathering representatives of relevant state bodies, international organizations and national civil society organizations, as well as members of the transgender community in Serbia.

“This is particularly important when reviewing data whereby sexual minorities in European countries have significantly poorer physical and mental health. The mortality of transgender persons is three times higher, and transgender women are up to ten times more likely to attempt suicide”, added Doctor Ivanuša.

The national implementation of the elimination of transgender states from the list of mental disorders involves enabling the recognition of identity, conditioned to a lesser extent by the medical approach. Furthermore, transgender persons should be better included in society, have better opportunities for exercising their rights and access to services, instead of long lasting processes of diagnostics and medicalization.

“The Global UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development endeavours towards the principle of leaving no one behind. This is particularly so regarding the most vulnerable groups, such as transgender persons. Lead studies show that transgender women are under an approximately 49 times higher risk of HIV infection compared to other women”, says Marija Raković, representative of the UN Population Fund in Serbia.

The above classification was previously amended in 1990, when homosexuality was removed from the list of mental disorders, thus making the first large step necessary for achieving social equality and providing for the efficient exercise of the human rights of homosexuals.

The event was jointly organized by the UN Human Rights Unit, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia and the World Health Organization Office in Serbia.

Notice/illustration: UN in Serbia, source: www.euractiv.rs