The article offers a review of directive documents and literature on the topics of children’s health condition and child disability and exposes a correlation between events in the field of health care restructuring, introduction of new standards and rules for the provision of medical and social assistance to children with disabilities characteristic of the child population. The characteristics of childhood disability, risk factors that determine the measures of its prevention are analyzed, which is the main task of the health care system in the context of the problems of the pediatric link. Due to Russia’s transition to international criteria for registration of live births and introduction of legislation on helping children with orphan (rare) diseases the authors look at actualisation of approaches to prevention of child disability associated with perinatal period. Based on implementation into practice of establishing disability for children and providing rehabilitation assistance in accordance with International Classification of Functioning, Disabilities and Health (ICF), measures of tertiary prevention of child disability are revealed. Main directions for improving medical and social assistance to children with disabilities are shown.