COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ON PATIENTS' RIGHTS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAW ON THE PROTECTION OF PATIENTS' RIGHTS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

In 2008, Macedonia adopted the Law on the Protection of Patients' Rights. This was a big step forward in the field of health care and regulation of patients' rights and responsibilities, as well as the rights and responsibilities of the health care providers. The Law introduces some new patients' rights (for example, right to second expert opinion) and new mechanisms for protection of patients' rights (Councilors for protection of patients' rights, Commissions for promotion of patients' rights). As this paper shows, the implementation of this Law is lagging behind. This paper argues that, besides a good law and political will, a continuous promotion of patients' rights and lifelong training of health care professionals is key to achieving promotion and protection of patients' rights in practice. The paper presents the findings from the comparison of the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Patients' Rights and the relevant international documents.