1. Reform initiatives in the Hungarian health care system

 

I collected and analysed information on policy initiatives by the Hungarian government in the domain of health care reform, examining these from the point of view of their impact on the freedom to choose one’s physician and freedom to take informed decisions.

 

In March of this year, I took part at a strategic planning meeting organized in Budapest by the OSI on inequality of chances and of treatment in health care between Roma and non-Roma patients:

 

Roma Health Strategic Planning Meeting

Organized by the Open Society Institute

Aim of the meeting:  To work towards the elaboration of an OSI Roma Health Program strategy that integrates/utilizes the various resources and opportunities present at OSI.

March 17, 2005

Budapest, Hungary

 

2. Informed consent legislation

 

I subjected the Hungarian legal material on health care from the point of view of the right of the patient to a free and informed decision making. I made significant progress in the domain of reproductive rights. I have compiled a comprehensive list of the situations where the problem of self-determination in reproduction can emerge, this list including the issues of ethics and of legal policy that are raised by such situations. In addition, I prepared an overview of the way the legal rules in force deal with these issues.

 

In the field of reproductive rights, I developed a good working relationship including repeated mutual consultations with the Director of the OSI Sexual Health and Rights Program and, upon her invitation, I took part, in July of this year, in Vilnius, Lithuania, at a Sex Work Policy Meeting dedicated to the discussion of health and human rights challenges for sex workers.

 

Sex Work Policy Meeting

Organized by the Sexual Health and Rights Program of OSI

Aim of the meeting: Consultation on policy and advocacy strategies related to drugs, sex work, access to health care of sex workers.

July 22-24, 2005

Vilnius, Lithuania

 

 

3. Fact-finding on palliative care in Hungary

 

I conducted consultations with experts in palliative care, collected data on the system of caring with the terminally ill and on the practical opportunities for self-determination in this domain. I was motivated in paying special attention to this issue by two factors. First, in May of this year, the first model experiment on establishing beds for palliative care in hospitals came to an end. Second, the decision of the Constitutional Court on euthanasia announced that legalizing voluntary active euthanasia depends on the availability of the alternative of a humane caring of the terminally ill.

 

I made a proposal to the leadership of the Hungarian Hospice Palliative Association to co-operate on the basis of legal advice provided by me in the field of self-determination. Issues of self-determination are likely to emerge, in my opinion, after this September when the first Hospice House will open its doors.

 

Upon the invitation of the leadership of HHPA, I took part at a consultation including, besides them, leading officials of the Ministry of Health Care and of the National Health Insurance:

 

National Conference on the Development of Hungarian Palliative Services

A national conference for member organizations of the Hungarian Hospice Palliative Association. The aim of the conference was to discuss the experiences of the first model financig scheme of the National Health Insurance on the development of hospice units in hospitals. Responsible officers from the ministry of health and the National Health Insurance made a presentation on their projects of development and professional surveillance in the field.

            April 26, 2005

 

4. Anonymous HIV testing in Hungary

 

In this field, I work in close co-operation with the OSI  International Harm Reduction I collected data from the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner of Civil Rights, from human rights organizations and from various publications of the public health authorities on the development of HIV screening in Hungary, especially ont he experiences of the introduction, two years ago, of anonymous testing.

development Program.

I took part at a consultation organized by IHRD to harm reduction activists in Eastern Europe and Central Asia:

 

Law on the books - law on the streets

Consultation on law as a public health tool with regard to harm reduction

Organized by the International Harm Reduction Development Program
Open Society Institute

Aim: to identify priorities for legal work in reducing drug-related harms, including HIV infection, and safeguarding the rights of injection drug users .

June 15, 2005

Budapest, Hungary