17 August, Minsk /Olga Struzhinskaya - BELTA/. In Belarus, the periods for issuing sick leave certificates are being revised. This was announced today at a press conference by the Director of the National Research Center for Medical Expertise and Rehabilitation, Professor Vasily Smychek, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. "The Ministry of Health has set the task to correct and rework the instructions on disability, as well as the instructions for issuing a certificate of temporary incapacity for work (sick leave)," said the Director of the National Research Center. These measures are aimed at "making it less burdensome for a person, if they are ill, to visit the polyclinic." It is planned that in case of diseases such as ARVI or influenza, for example, sick leave will be issued not for 3 days, but for 5-6 days and so on. In addition, the periods for issuing certificates of incapacity for work will be changed, for instance, for severely ill patients after a stroke. "If we see that there is no improvement in a severely ill patient, the issuance of sick leave for 5-6 months will be more widely practiced," noted Vasily Smychek. Regarding the revision of the disability instructions, the Director of the National Research Center reported that close attention will be paid to the determination of permanent disability. In particular, if there are no improvements for 3 years, disability will be granted on a permanent basis. It is expected that the new instructions will be adopted within the current year. Vasily Smychek once again emphasized that these measures are aimed at alleviating the "ordeal" of patients. -0-

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