Article title Immunoprophylaxis in the Mechanism Ensuring and Protecting the Right to Health
Authors

Doctor of Law, Professor, Professor of the Department of Civil, Economic and Financial Law of the Poltava Law Institute of the National Law University named after Yaroslav the Wise (Poltava, Ukraine) ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9489-7768  v.pashkov26.06@ukr.net

 

Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Law Sciences of Ukraine, Honored Lawyer of Ukraine, Professor, Department of Criminal Law, Poltava Law Institute of the National Law University named after Yaroslav the Wise (Poltava, Ukraine) ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2485-0651 natalygutorova@gmail.com

 

Name of magazine Legal journal «Law of Ukraine» (Ukrainian version)
Issue 3/2020
Сторінки [61-84]
DOI https://doi.org/10.33498/louu-2020-03-061
Annotation

Enjoyment of the right to health comprises the provision of medical services, including preventive and diagnostic services, and this presupposes a voluntary informed consent to medical intervention. Thus, immunoprophylaxis is one of the types of medical services. However, unlike other types of medical services, in some cases immunoprophylaxis is mandatory, with restrictions applicable to persons who groundlessly refuse to be vaccinated. It should be noted that in Ukraine the issue of immunoprophylaxis is a rather complex one and insufficiently resolved. As a result of a low level of immunization and failure to comply with the European Vaccine Action Plan 2015–2020 adopted by the World Health Organization, epidemics of particularly dangerous infectious diseases have broken out in our country.

This article aims at identifying restrictions in case of mandatory vaccination and methods to be used in the event other human rights are violated.

The methodology of this research rests upon an organic combination of general scientific and special legal research methods, which include, in particular: principles of objectivity, some techniques of the logical method, system and structural functional methods, and the method of legal modeling. Particularly for the use of system analysis, we apply the systematic method of current legislation regulating court proceedings in cases related to patients’ rights protection. The structural functional method allows identifying the main components of judicial reasoning of a respective category, and the method of legal modeling allows outlining proposals concerning how to improve current legislation and court practice in cases related to patients’ rights protection.

Upon studying a small segment of the provision of the right to health, in particular, concerning immunoprophylaxis, the author is able to conclude that currently in Ukraine there are no levers for pre-emptive consolidation of fundamental human rights and freedoms. Despite many conceptual and policy documents, most of them are either ignored for political reasons or are not updated after completion dates. Currently, there is virtually no appropriate uniform concept of public policy to ensure fundamental rights and freedoms, including in the healthcare area, and yet the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is a fundamental natural and inalienable human right.

For its efficient functioning, the health sector should draw upon the coordinated functioning of the mechanisms which are responsible for practical implementation of social guarantees, particularly, the right to health.

Given that some social guarantees are not always properly performed by institutions of healthcare which, via their practice, embody the State’s social duty to ensure the right of citizens to healthcare, including immunoprophylaxis, a conclusion can be made that there is a strong reason for the State to create the conditions for immunoprophylaxis of the population by regulating relations in the healthcare area and by defining the conceptual bases of operation of healthcare institutions.

 

Keywords right to health; immunoprophylaxis; vaccination; pro rata principle; healthcare
References

Bibliography

Authored books

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Edited and translated books

 2. Tridimas T (ed), The General Principles of EU Law (Oxford University Press 2007) (in English). 3. Albrekht P, Zabuta svoboda: pryntsypy kryminalnoho prava v yevropeiskii dyskusii pro bezpeku [Forgotten Freedom: Principles of Criminal Law in the European Debate on Security] (per z nim, 2006) (in Ukrainian).

4. Medychne pravo Ukrainy: pidruchnyk [Medical Law of Ukraine: Textbook] (Stetsenko S zah red, Pravova yednist 2008) (in Ukrainian).

 

Journal articles

5. Alcheva Gabriela and Gerovski Filip and Beletsky Leo, ‘Implementation of patients’ rights legislation in the Republic of Macedonia: gaps and disparities’ [2013] 15(2) Health and human rights 20–31 (in English).

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10. Panomariovas Artūras and Losis Egidijus, ‘Proportionality: from the concept to the procedure’ [2010] 2(120) Jurisprudencija 257–72 (in English).

11. Pashkov V and Golovanova I and Noha P, ‘Principle of serviceability and gratuitousness in transplantation?’ [2016] 3(LXIX) Wiadomości Lekarskie 565–8 (in English).

12. Pashkov V and Golovanova I and Olefir A, ‘The impact of the legal regime of intellectual property protection in the pharmaceutical market’ [2016] 3(LXIX) Wiadomości Lekarskie 582–6 (in English).

13. Pashkov V and Gutorova N and Harkusha A, ‘Medical device software: defining key terms’ [2016] 6(LXIX) Wiadomości Lekarskie 813–7 (in English).

14. Pashkov V and Harkusha A, ‘Certain aspects on medical devices software law regulation’ [2016] 6(LXIX) Wiadomości Lekarskie 765–67 (in English).

15. Pashkov V and Hrekov Y and Hrekova M, ‘European Experience of Regulating Distance Selling of Medicines for Ukraine’ [2017] 1(LXX) Wiadomości Lekarskie 96–100 (in English).

16. Tatsiy V and Gutorova N and Pashkov V, ‘Legal Aspects of Cancer Deseases Prophylactics: Patients Rights Context’ [2017] 6(LXX) Wiadomości Lekarskie 1108–13 (in English).

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20. Maidanyk R, ‘Pravovidnosyny medychnoho obsluhovuvannia i nadannia medychnykh posluh za zakonodavstvom Ukrainy’ [‘Legal Relations of Medical Care and Medical Services under Legislation of Ukraine’] (2017) 3 Medychne pravo 48–70 (in Ukrainian).

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23. Seniuta I, ‘Standarty u sferi okhorony zdorov’ia yak dzherelo pravovidnosyn iz nadannia medychnoi dopomohy’ [‘Healthcare Standards as a Source of Legal Relations in the Area of Medical Aid’] (2017) 3 Medychne pravo 112–4 (in Ukrainian).

 

Thesis

24. Shevchuk S, ‘Zahalnoteoretychni problemy normatyvnosti aktiv sudovoi vlady’ [‘General Theoretical Issues of Normativity of the Judiciary’s Acts’] (avtoref dys d-ra yuryd nauk, 2008) (in Ukrainian).

 

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39. Pashkov V, ‘Istoriia vaktsynatsii: pravovyi nihilizm ta medychnyi…’ [‘Vaccination History: Legal Nihilism and Medical...’] (Shchotyzhnevyk APTEKA, 26.03.2018) <https://www.apteka.ua/article/451216> (accessed: 20.01.2020) (in Ukrainian).

 

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