A/HRC/41/33/Add.433/Add.4
exception) are subject to the same rules of conduct with patients with disabilities as in
relation to patients without disability. Both information on specific medical activities as
well as acquisition of Patient's consent to their performance, respect for privacy, providing
a comfortable changing room and proper communication skills with the patient should be
the standard applicable to all patients. Undoubtedly, providing health care for patients with
various disabilities requires not only appropriate architectural adaptation of medical entities
to their needs, proper organization of patient registration as well as high commitment,
understanding and proper communication by medical personnel. Therefore, a project called
Accessibility Plus for health, financed from the funds of the Operational Program
Knowledge Education Development 2014-2020 has been implemented in the Department
of e-Health of the Ministry of Health. The aim of this project is to support – at its first stage
– 25 hospitals and 125 primary care units in the process of adapting them to the needs of
people with disabilities (ultimately 50 hospitals and 250 primary care units units).
Availability of the above entities will be comprehensive and will refer to 4 areas of
accessibility: architectural, digital, communicational and organizational. Hospitals and
primary care units will receive grant support for which they will be eligible to apply in two
open calls. The planned date of launching the calls in case of primary care units would be in
June 2019, and for hospitals in July 2019.
Ad part VI „Health” paragraph 45
According to the report “the infertility treatment is no longer being funded by the State”. It
is difficult to agree with this statement, as the health policy programme of the Minister of
Health titled: “Comprehensive reproductive health protection programme in Poland” is
being implemented in Poland. The main objective of this programme (implemented from 1
September 2016 to 31 December 2020) is to improve the accessibility of high-quality
diagnostics and treatment of infertility.
Both, the assumptions of the current program and its objectives result from the recognition
of the problem of reproductive health and infertility in a wider spectrum than the
“Programme - Treatment of infertility using in vitro fertilization method" which was carried
out in 2013-2016. That programme was limited to financing of one of the methods of
infertility treatment, omitting issues related to diagnostics and ensuring the availability of
services that couples with pregnancy problems could benefit from. The experience gained
from the implementation of this program has allowed to conclude that it is necessary to cofinance the development of multifaceted activities related to the diagnosis itself and earlier
causative treatment of infertility and to strengthen reproductive health in the population.
This paragraph of the report includes also a statement according to which “women's rights
to reproductive self-determination” is seriously restricted. However, the report does not
provide any arguments to support this thesis, leaving it impossible to refer to.
Ad Part VI “Health”, paragraph 46
According to the report “Adolescent girls face additional barriers in accessing
contraceptives, as they require parental consent”. It needs to be explained, that the issue of
the patient’s consent for a health care service is clearly regulated in Poland. The legal basis
for the obligation to obtain consent to provide health services are the provisions of the Act
of December 5, 1996 on the professions of a doctor and dental practitioner and of the Act
of November 6, 2008 on patients’ rights and the ombudsman of patients’ rights. In light of
these regulations, a doctor may conduct an examination or provide other health care
services, subject to the exceptions defined in the Act, after obtaining the patient’s consent.
If the patient is minor or incapable of giving informed consent, the consent of their
statutory representative is required, and if the patient does not have a statutory
representative or it is impossible to communicate with the representative — a permit from
the custody court is required. If it is necessary to examine a minor or a person incapable of
giving informed consent, the consent may be expressed by the actual caregiver. If the
patient is 16 or older, the patient’s consent is required as well. However, if a minor aged 16
or more, an incapacitated person, a mentally ill patient or an intellectually disabled patient,
who nevertheless has sufficient insight, objects the medical procedures, then a permit from
a custody court will be required alongside the consent of the statutory representative or the
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