Tomica Milosavljevic
Author:
Tanjug
Milosavljevic told a press conference that a priority of the campaign is a new legal position of patients, so that quality of health services could be improved, as well as better availability of information on the rights of patients.
The beginning of the 21st century is marked by patients who are much better informed and expect much more from health workers than before, which is why we must be up to this new task, said the minister.
He said the Ministry will gather directors and representatives of health centers in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Nis through four large conferences and give them printed material and notifications on the rights of patients in line with the Law on health protection.
He also said these rights are harmonised with the most progressive tendencies in this area and are concerned with the right to be informed before any intervention of doctors, the right to free choice, privacy and confidentiality of information, the right to view one’s own medical records, secrecy and compensation.
The Minister said that licensing of health professionals, setting-up chambers with authorisations at a national level, accreditation of health centres and the establishment of an agency before end-2008 will be the main guidelines of the campaign.
He announced that Serbian parliament should appoint a health council and a Serbian ethical board this year.
According to Milosavljevic, reconstruction and construction of 24 hospitals will be brought to an end this year, whereas another project will begin to reorganise clinical centres in Belgrade, Kragujevac, Nis and Novi Sad in order to make them work more efficiently.
Assistant Minister of Health for protection of patients' rights Maja Ivetic said that patients should be encouraged to point to the errors of health workers.
This one-month campaign, which marks the beginning of a continuous process, includes the broadcasting of a TV video, billboards, distribution of educational brochures and posters in the health institutions and presence in the printed and electronic media.
As part of the campaign, regional meetings will be held with heads and representatives of health institutions - in Belgrade on June 19, in Novi Sad on June 22, in Kragujevac on June 26 and in Nis on June 29.