Legal considerations in the management of cleft lip and palate.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
To inform professionals providing care to individuals with cleft lip and palate on the legal aspects and organizations available to protect individuals with this alteration, and to advocate that cleft lip and palate should be considered a handicap, even though it is provisional and may be rehabilitated, to assure afflicted individuals basic rights and complete personal, social, and economic welfare.

DESIGN:
Literature review on the issue, including assessment of national and international laws, doctrines, and jurisprudences; conceptual analysis of the word "handicapped" in dictionaries. Analysis included the federal constitutions of Brazil, France, Argentina, Spain, Cuba, Italy, China, Portugal, Japan, Great Britain, and Colombia, regarding the protection of handicapped people.

RESULTS:
Constitutional protection of handicapped people is a recent issue that has been addressed only in the last few decades in some countries such as Brazil, Italy, Spain, China, and Portugal. The Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988 addresses the protection of handicapped people to assure them access to social and individual rights, freedom, security, welfare, development, equality, and justice as supreme values of a fraternal, pluralist, and prejudice-free society.

CONCLUSIONS:
Individuals with cleft lip and palate should be included in national policies for integration of handicapped people, in agreement with programs of human rights, establishing a collaborative action between state and society. This would assure their inclusion in the socioeconomic and cultural context and equal opportunities in society, without privileges or paternalism.

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Author information

Author/s: Berbert-Campos, Cláudia (C);

Affiliation: FUNCRAF, Foundation for Study and Treatment of Craniofacial Deformities. claudia(-atsign-)berbert.adv.br

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: The Cleft palate-craniofacial journal : official publication of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association (Cleft Palate Craniofac J), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Mar; vol 44 (issue 2) : pp 223-5

Dates: Created 2007/03/01; Completed 2007/05/04;

PMID: 17328646, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Asia
Civil Rights - legislation & jurisprudence
Cleft Lip - therapy
Cleft Palate - therapy
Culture
Disabled Persons - legislation & jurisprudence
Europe
Freedom

Humans
Patient Advocacy - legislation & jurisprudence
Patient Rights - legislation & jurisprudence
Social Justice - legislation & jurisprudence
Social Security - legislation & jurisprudence
Social Welfare - legislation & jurisprudence
Socioeconomic Factors
South America

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