Patients' Rights Laws in Europe
Patient
rights are a reflection of human rights. The human right
movement has gathered importance in the world since 1945, when,
on 10 December 1948, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights was adopted. This was followed, on 4 November,
1950, by the signature of the European
Convention of Human Rights. The rights of the patients, as
specific human rights became recognized throughout the European
region only in the past two decades.
Especially important was the European
Consultation on the Rights of Patients, held in Amsterdam on
28-30 March 1994 under the auspices of the WHO Regional Office
for Europe (WHO-EURO), and hosted by the Government of the
Netherlands, which was attended by some 60 persons from 36 Member
States. The purpose was to define principles and strategies for
promoting the rights of patients, within the context of the
health care reform process underway in most countries in Europe.
Patients rights and their foundation in several European
countries are described here:
Contents
WHO Activities, Council of Europe
and EU
| Organization |
Name with Link |
Translation |
| EU, 1979 |
Charter
of the Hospital patient: http://www.hope.be/07publi/publoth/Hospchart.htm. Continuation? |
|
| WHO, 1986 |
Ottawa
Charter for Health Promotion: http://www.euro.who.int/AboutWHO/Policy/20010827_2 |
Deutsch |
| WHO Europe, 1994 |
Declaration
on the promotion of patients' rights in Europe- Amsterdam
March 1994: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/patientrights.html |
|
| WHO Europe, 1996 |
Ljubljana Charter on Reforming
Health Care:
http://www.who.dk/AboutWHO/Policy/20010927_5
|
|
| Council of Europe, 1996 |
The 5th Conference of Health
Ministers: "Social challenge to health :
equity and patients rights in the context of health
reforms": http://www.social.coe.int/en/qoflife/publi/warsaw.htm |
|
| Council of Europe - ETS no. 164, 1997 |
Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the
Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and
Medicine. Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine |
Deutsch |
| WHO, 1997 |
Gothenburg Workshop:
Patients’ Rights in Europe as at June 1997: http://www.euro.who.int/document/e58605.pdf.
(Map of patterns)
|
|
| WHO Europe, 22-23 April 1999 |
Patients’
rights and citizens’ empowerment,
Copenhagen, Denmark 22-23 April 1999. European
network for patients' rights: http://lists.essential.org/med-privacy/msg00294.html:
"Patients consistently report that their opinions
are not adequately considered and that their rights are
often violated," said Dr Mikko Vienonen,
regional adviser at the WHO's
regional office for Europe. |
|
| Council of Europe, 2000 |
Recommendation Rec (2000) 5 on
the development of structures for citizen and patient
participation in the decision-making process affecting
health care: http://www.social.coe.int/en/qoflife/recomm/R(00)5.htm
|
|
| EU, 2001 |
European Health Forum: http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_overview/health_forum/open_forum_en.htm |
|
| EU, 2006 |
Health-EU
Portal: http://health.europa.eu/ |
|
Patients' Rights Laws
| Country |
Name with Link |
Translation |
| Finland, 1992 |
Lag
om patientens ställning och rättigheter (785/1992):
http://www.mhbibl.aland.fi/patient/patientlag.html
|
Svensk |
| Netherlands, 1994 |
Dutch
Medical Treatment Act 1994: http://home.planet.nl/~privacy1/wgbo.htm |
|
Israel, 1996
|
Patient´s
Rights Act: http://waml.haifa.ac.il/index/reference/legislation/israel/israel1.htm |
|
| Lithuania, 1996 |
Law
on the Rights of Patients and Damage Done to Patients:
http://www3.lrs.lt/c-bin/eng/preps2?Condition1=111935&Condition2= |
|
| Iceland, 1997 |
Lög
um réttindi sjúklinga: http://www.althingi.is/lagas/123a/1997074.html |
English |
| Latvia, 1997 |
Law
of Medicine (=The law on medical treatment): http://home.broadpark.no/~wkeim/files/Latvia_The_law_of_Medicine.htm |
|
| Hungary, 1997 |
Rights
and Obligations of Patients (According
to Act CLIV of 1997 on Health): http://www.eum.hu/english/CLIV/CLIV-main.html.
The Szószóló
Foundation supports patients rights. |
Hungarian |
| Greece, 1997 |
Law 2519/21-8-97 |
|
| Denmark, 1998 |
Lov
om patienters retsstilling, LOV nr 482 af 01/07/1998 |
English |
| Norway, 1999 |
Pasientrettighetsloven:
http://www.lovdata.no/all/hl-19990702-063.html.
Other Norwegian Health laws. |
Deutsch, English |
| Georgia, 2000 |
The
Law of Georgia on the Rights of patients |
|
| France, 2002 |
LOI n° 2002-303 du 4 mars 2002 relative aux droits
des malades et à la qualité du système de santé (1): http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=mesx0100092l#
|
|
| Belgium, 2002 |
Act on Patients’ Rights, http://www.lachambre.be/documents/1642/15.pdf
(in Dutch or French). |
|
| Switzerland, 2003 |
Patientenrechtverordnung
1991, Patientenrechtsgesetz
ist in Vorbereitung: Hearing:
http://www.zh.ch/gd/aktuell/news/presseberichte/news_21_12_00_1a.htm |
|
| Russia |
Principles
of The Russian Federation Legislation No. 5487-I: On
protection of citizens' health of 22 July 1993 and
amendments. (Patients
rights in several different laws) |
English
and Russian |
| Estonia, 2002 |
Draft
of the Act on Patients' Rights PATSIENDISEADUS: http://www.riigikogu.ee/ |
Estonian |
| Romania, 2003 |
Law of Patients’ Rights (law 46). Prof. Dr. Dan Tudor Vuza:
The Patient’s Family, between the Right to Know the
Truth and the Medical Secret |
|
| Cyprus, 2005 |
Law 1/2005: PATIENT
RIGHTS LAW |
Greek |
Charters of the Rights of Patients
| Country |
Name with Link |
Translation |
| France 1974
and 1995 |
Charte
du Patient Hospitalisé: http://www.ch-erstein.fr/charte/chartepatient.html
|
|
| San Marino, 1989 |
|
|
| UK, (1991), 1997 |
The
Patient's Charter for England: http://www.pfc.org.uk/medical/pchrt-e1.htm |
|
| Czech Republic, 1992 |
|
|
| Spain, 1994 |
Charter of Rights and Duties of Patients |
|
| Ireland, 1995 |
Charter
of Rights for Hospital Patients |
|
| Malaysia, 1995 |
Patient's
Charter: http://prn.usm.my/edl/patient.html |
|
| South Africa, 1996 |
PATIENTS
RIGHTS CHARTER: http://www.hst.org.za/doh/rights_chart.htm |
|
| Portugal, 1997 |
Patients' Rights Charter: http://www.dgsaude.pt/carta.htm
|
|
| Honk Kong, 1999 |
Patients'
Charter: http://www.ha.org.hk/charter/pceng.htm |
|
| Germany, 1999 |
Charta
der Patientenrechte vom 9./10. Juni 1999: http://patientenstellen.de/patientencharta.html |
|
| Poland, 1999 |
Information
on patients rights by the Ministry of Health (Karta Praw
Pacjenta). Polish
Patients Association: Letter to
Commissioner for Human Rights. |
|
| Slovakia, 2000 |
Charter on the Patients Rights in the
Slovak Republic (draft): http://www.mdac.info/region/slovakia/index.html |
|
| Austria, 2001 |
Vereinbarung
zur Sicherstellung der Patientenrechte (Patientencharta):
http://www.parlinkom.gv.at/pd/pm/XXI/I/texte/004/I00421_.html |
|
| Germany, 2001 |
Experts support patients' rights law: Sachverständigenrat
tritt für Patientenrechte-Gesetz ein. The German
health system is most expensive in EU, but only under
average (World
Health Report 2000: Rank
25) in quality of services. Petition
der Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft
der Notgemeinschaften Medizingeschädigter e.V.
(PDF-format.) |
|
| Cyprus, 2001 |
Cyprus Patients Rights' Charter: http://www.activecitizenship.net/documenti/Cyprus
Charter Patients' Rights.doc |
|
| Germany, 2002 |
Patientenrechtscharta:
http://www.bag-selbsthilfe.de/archiv/jahr-2002/patientencharta/patientenrechte-in-deutschland/ |
|
| Europe, 2002 |
Active
Citizenship Network: European Charter of
Patients Rights http://www.activecitizenship.net/projects/europ_chart.htm |
|
| Italy |
Active
Citizenship Network: Italian
Charter of Patients Rights http://www.activecitizenship.net/health/italian_charter.pdf |
|
Six
years after the WHO Declaration on the Promotion of
Patients’ Rights in Europe (Amsterdam, 1994), more than
eight countries (Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Iceland,
Israel, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Norway) have enacted laws
on the rights of patients; and four countries (France, Ireland,
Portugal and the United Kingdom) have used Patients’
Charters as a tool to promote patients’ rights. (German
version). European Journal of Health Law 7: 1-3, 2000:
Lars Fallberg: Patients’
Rights in Europe: Where do we stand and where do we go?
PatientNavigation
is intended to improve transparency in health care by providing
support to patients and their counsellors in finding their way
through the tangled web of the health care system. It is not
designed as a pilot, guiding and deciding, but as a compass that
provides information but leaves t
auf
Deutsch 
Patient
rights are a reflection of human rights. The human right
movement has gathered importance in the world since 1945, when,
on 10 December 1948, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights was adopted. This was followed, on 4 November,
1950, by the signature of the European
Convention of Human Rights. The rights of the patients, as
specific human rights became recognized throughout the European
region only in the past two decades. 