Health Ministry Scraps Standard Care Procedure for Transsexuals

Bratislava, April 2 (TASR) - The Health Ministry is scrapping the Standard Procedure for the Diagnosis and Comprehensive Management of Health Care for Adults with Transsexualism, with the changes coming into effect as of Wednesday (April 3), TASR was told by the ministry's press department on Tuesday. The reasons for this stem from practice, and are at the stage after all medical interventions have been carried out to confirm the diagnosis of transsexualism and the patient's identification with their preferred gender. According to the Health Ministry, one of the reasons for abolishing this standard procedure is the fact that, although it's specifically a highly professional medical matter, it also has ethical and societal implications. "In this regard, we consider that the adoption of the standard hasn't been sufficiently communicated and explained to society, resulting in increasing problems and incentives for its implementation," stated the ministry, adding that there are irregularities in administrative and technical procedures. The ministry stressed that this standard practice has never applied to children. It was only intended for people over 18 years of age. "It should be stressed that we fully identify with the professional content of this standard procedure, which is backed by a huge team of professionals with many years of experience in caring for adults with transsexualism," said Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova (Voice-SD). am/df