Disability discrimination law extends protection

An estimated quarter of a million people now have new legal rights not to be discriminated against in the workplace and elsewhere, following changes to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

Until now, people with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis were not covered by the DDA unless they were showing signs of illness, even though people known to have these conditions but not yet showing symptoms often experience prejudice and discrimination.

But the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, which came into effect on 5 December and amends the 1995 DDA, provides legal protection against discrimination from the point of diagnosis.

Bert Massie, chair of the Disability Rights Commission, said the new definition of disability closed "a significant loophole in the law".

A number of charities have set up a website, www.pointofdiagnosis.org.uk, to provide information to people with these conditions and to employers and service providers.

The changes to the DDA will also see improvements for people with mental health conditions. They will no longer have to prove that they have a "clinically well recognised" condition - something that people with physical impairments have never been required to prove - in order to gain protection against discrimination under the law.