In 2002, the Active Citizens Network, together with a group of European citizens’ organisations, drafted the European Charter of Patients’ Rightswhich has been translated into 16 languages and includes the following 14 rights:
- Right to preventive measures,
- access to care,
- update,
- consent,
- free choice,
- privacy and confidentiality,
- respecting patients’ time,
- adherence to quality standards,
- security,
- innovation,
- avoiding unnecessary suffering and pain,
- personalized treatment,
- right of termination,
- right to compensation.
What experts say about Patient Rights
The doctors of the Therapeutic Clinic (Alexandra Hospital) of the EKPA School of Medicine Theodora Psaltopoulou (Pathologist, Professor of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine), Yannis Danasis and Thanos Dimopoulos (former Chancellor of EKPA, Professor of Oncology – Hematology and Director of the Therapeutic Clinic) state that all this the rights, based on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, are vital for European citizens and healthcare services. Most of these rights were also incorporated in the Council conclusions on common values and principles in the health systems of the European Union which were approved in June 2006.
Strengthening these rights will only become effective with the cooperation and commitment of all healthcare stakeholders in every European country. Therefore, it is necessary to raise awareness about the importance of patients’ rights and everyone’s responsibilities to ensure their respect, EKPA scientists report.
The celebration of the European Patients’ Rights Day
The celebration of the European Patients’ Rights Day on 18 April each year in all EU Member States will contribute significantly to achieving this goal, as a common opportunity to inform, discuss and make commitments to improve patients’ rights in Europe and in each member state. For this reason, they add, the Active Citizens Network – together with citizens and patient organizations across Europe – took the initiative to organize over the last fifteen years a European conference to celebrate the European Patients’ Rights Day.
Now, the European Patients’ Rights Day has become a regular annual event on the European and national political agenda to inform, debate and make commitments to improve patients’ rights in Europe and in each Member State. Every year, also thanks to the network’s more than a hundred patients’ and citizens’ associations, the European Patients’ Rights Day is celebrated in hundreds of cities and in various ways across Europe, allowing civil society to fully enter policy-making processes and achieve important goals.
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