Slow and ineffective social reform in Bulgaria deprived thousands of people with disabilities of better social services, mediapool.bg said.

These people were accommodated in clinics in remote areas, in bad condition and with old equipment. Instead of being socialised, people in need of such care were being isolated.

Social services were legally decentralised in 2003, but the process was slow and results were still missing, mediapool.bg said. Only 20 out of 264 municipalities launched tenders for NGOs to deal with social care.

The slow pace of reforms resulted in a campaign for social services speeding up and improvement in Bulgaria launched by NGOs and local authorities. According to the NGOs the goals could be achieved by more effective decentralisation.

Bulgarian business sector lacked stimulus to take part in the social services decentralisation. Tax concessions could be such stimulus.

Silvia Tsenova, deputy head of S`ocial Assistance Agency told mediapool.bg that mistakes in current social services legislation should be corrected. Expert groups would be formed in January 2007 to work out amendments.