Zuzana Oster

Financial director

Zuzana Oster has had a very successful career at Kaspersky in her 14 years with the company. She started out as a financial analyst and is now a director, responsible for all finance in Europe, leading a team of two dozen people. A few years ago, just before her promotion, Zuzana was diagnosed with a very rare skin condition called prurigo nodularis.

The disease progressed and changed her daily life beyond recognition, but not even her colleagues could tell. Zuzana smiles with love and sincerity. Despite the challenges, she continues to motivate and encourage her team, which, as you can imagine, has also had a tough time in recent years due to the complicated global geopolitical situation.

"I am very happy that I can continue to lead my team. And my disability card has not been an obstacle for me. We are moving forward, trying to do our job as well as we can. I do this for the company, for the team, for myself and for my child," says Zuzana.

Her daughter has autism. "I have a few close friends, but my main support is probably my daughter. I want her to see me as an example, to know that a disability is not an obstacle, at least in the workplace. You can and should go ahead and do what you think is important, no matter what the circumstances," says Zuzana.

Different Approaches to Understanding Disability

The very word ‘disability’ has different meanings in different countries, and this directly impacts the lives of people experiencing health issues. In traditional systems based on a medical approach, disability is viewed as a consequence of illness or physical impairment. This approach has been dominant in Russia, the CIS countries and a number of Asian nations for a long time. Here, it is believed that the underlying cause is to be found within the human body, and it is the impairment that determines a person’s disability status. Under this system, disability is confirmed by a medical review, and the result is enshrined as a formal status, often with distinctions between different groups. Support is structured around the diagnosis and the expectation that the person’s ability to work will be affected. If the impairment is proven, the person receives benefits, allowances and access to rehabilitation.

In a number of countries, particularly in Europe, the social model of disability takes precedent, focusing on an individual's ability to participate in everyday life over the diagnosis itself. The disability is viewed as an outcome of the interface between that individual and their environment, occurring when society doesn’t offer accessible means of transport, communication, education or work. Government assessments under this model therefore take into account the specific accommodations needed, such as an adapted environment, support from an assistant, technical aids or a flexible schedule. Support is aimed not only at compensating for the disability, but also at creating the conditions for equal participation. This approach transforms people from objects of assistance into subjects of rights.

Global policy has been moving in precisely this direction in recent decades. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities enshrines the principle that disability arises not at the individual level, but in the barriers that prevent people from participating in society.

Sources: WHO, UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Zuzana Oster

Different Approaches to Understanding Disability

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