REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA L A W ON THE HEALTH SYSTEM The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, recognizing, that the health of the population is the greatest social and economic value of society, health is not only the absence of diseases and physical deficiencies, but physical, spiritual and social welfare of people as well, the potential of health and conditions of its maintaining are determined by stability of the development of economic system, guarantees for social security and education of society, employment and sufficient income of the population, provision with dwellings, accessible, acceptable and adequate health care, proper nutrition, quality of work, living and natural environment, as well as by the efforts of the population to promote health, person's efforts to stay healthy may only be promoted by social and economic measures which are acceptable from the point of view of human dignity and the current time, the best possible public health is a necessary prerequisite for the security and prosperity of the State of Lithuania, as well as for creating of an open, just and harmonious civic society; taking into consideration the provisions of the global strategy "Health to Everybody - 2 000", adopted at the 30th Session of the World Health Assembly in 1977, the Ottawa Health Promotion Charter and the National Health Concept of Lithuania; seeking to ensure the in-born human right to enjoy the best possible health, as well as the right to have healthy environment, acceptable, accessible and adequate health care; acting in compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, enacts this Law on the Health System. Part I The Health System Chapter 1 General Provisions Article

1. The Purpose of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Health System The Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Health System shall regulate the national health system of Lithuania, its structure, limits of legal regulation of health care, health strengthening and health recovery, fundamentals of establishment of the scope of health activities, organization and management of individual and public health care, health promotion, conclusion of contracts concerning health activities, fundamentals of the liability for violations of legal norms of health activities, rights and duties of the residents and subjects of health activities. Article
2. Legal Regulation of Health Relations Health relations arising from protection, strengthening and assistance in recovering of individual and public health, as well as relations concerning the implementation of the individual's rights to have the best possible health, protection of health interests of an individual and society, shall be regulated by this Law, other laws on health activities, as well as laws, if they do not contradict the meaning of the above mentioned laws, concerning the structure and institutions of state power and government, local self-government, public organizations, human rights and other social affairs, environmental protection, economy, national defense and internal order, subordinate legislation acts, contracts and agreements concerning health activities and working conditions. Article
3. The Scope of the Legal Regulation of Health Relations The following shall only be established by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania on health activities: 1) the sphere, tasks and principles of the effectiveness of health law; 2) the system of types and subjects of health activities, the competence of the main subjects of health activities management, rights and duties of state services and state inspectorates of health activities coordination and health care, institutions of individual and public health care and subjects of pharmaceutical activities in the individual and public health care or pharmaceutical activities, legal framework for their establishment, activities and termination thereof; 3) the legal framework of establishment, activities, reorganization of the state hygiene inspectorate, conditions and procedure for the state hygiene control; 4) the structure of resources of the national health system and basis for their management; 5) the basis for organizing, management of the health activities, as well as for health support and financing; 6) the necessary conditions of health activities and the legal framework of their control; 7) the rights and duties of the population in health activities, legal framework of participation of the population in the management of health matters; 8) the legal framework of accrediting of the persons who have the higher or special secondary medical or other education for health and pharmaceutical activities, basic professional rights and duties of medical specialists, procedure for establishing of the qualification requirements, for the improvement of their qualification and the restrictions of their practice, legal framework of the restriction of health care advertising, for establishing of civil responsibility for the damage done to the patients' health while carrying out the health care of individuals; 9) the procedure for making health activities contracts and basic terms and conditions thereof; 10) the legal framework of organizing and management of the primary health care, of the control over the conditions thereof; 11) the system of public health care, legal framework of its organizing, management, of the hygiene regulation, epidemiological protection against contagious diseases, hygiene and epidemiology control, and hygiene expert examination; 12) the legal framework of labour protection and labour medicine, for organizing and management of consumers' health protection; 13) the general requirements for food products quality; procedure for the conditions of producing, importing, trading, advertising of such products, control over the quality of food products and their tare, marking thereof; 14) the general requirements for the quality of drinking water, legal framework of water treatment, rendering harmless, and quality improvement; 15) the procedure for controlling of production, trade, import, export, licensing and consumption of narcotic and psychotropic substances, alcohol products, tobacco and its products, the system of reducing the consumption of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, the procedure for narcological supervision, prohibition of advertising of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products; 16) the conditions for production, trade, import, export, transportation, utilization of poison, other toxic and radioactive material, requirements for working with ionizing radiation sources, conditions for ensuring radiation safety and the procedure for the control thereof; 17) the system of the prophylaxis of contagious diseases, legal framework of organizing and management of the control over said diseases; 18) the conditions of public health monitoring, expert examination of public health, legal framework of their organizing and management; 19) the legal framework of organizing and management of physical culture and sport, control over dope and sex; 20) the rights of persons in the sphere of supervision over the psychic health; the conditions of psychic health supervision and the legal framework of its organizing and management, as well as of the control over the conditions thereof; 21) the legal framework of organizing of medical and social rehabilitation of the handicapped; 22) the conditions of stomatological and narcological supervision and the legal framework of organizing and management thereof; 23) the procedure for family planning and genetic consulting, the legal framework of birth-control, artificial insemination, foetus protection, termination of pregnancy, and sterilization; 24) the requirements for the ethics of biomedical tests, the procedure for the control of observing said requirements, as well as liability for violations of the requirements for the ethics of biomedical tests; 25) the conditions and procedure for giving human blood by donors, production of blood products, transfusion of human blood and its products; 26) the basic principles, conditions and procedure for taking organs or tissues for transplantation, their use for transplantation, medical research, diagnostics, and treatment; 27) the criterion of the establishment of terminal conditions and the fact of death of an individual, conditions of an individual's refusal from all or part of life prolongation services, conditions and procedure for postmortem examination (autopsy) of a corpse; 28) the legal framework of providing of pharmaceutical services, organizing and management of pharmaceutical activities; 29) the conditions and procedure for granting of a permit to dispense drugs and medicinal substances, for the control of the quality thereof; 30) the health insurance system, the procedure for collecting funds for compulsory health insurance, legal framework of voluntary health insurance, rights and duties of the insured and insurers, procedure for establishing and activities of health insurance institutions as well as rights and duties of these institutions; and 31) basic principles of liability for violations of the requirements of laws concerning health activities. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania, ministries, state services and state inspectorates shall enjoy the right to adopt within their competence legal acts on the issues of the regulation of health relations, with the exception of those issues which are regulated by the laws concerning health activities. Provisions of legal acts of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, ministries, state services and state inspectorates, which worsen the conditions of health activities comparing to those conditions which are established by the laws concerning health activities, shall be deemed invalid. Within their competence, enterprises, institutions and organizations shall have the right to adopt legal acts establishing, in comparison to laws and other legal acts, additional economic and social incentives for citizens to foster their health, for economic entities - to engage in economic- commercial activities beneficial to health, additional support to socially vulnerable groups of the population by compensating the expenses of their health care, additional requirements for implementing of public health care. Provisions of legal acts of enterprises, institutions and organizations which worsen the level of health activities comparing to the level which is established by laws and other legal acts concerning health activities, shall be deemed invalid. Article
4. Health Activities The health activities shall comprise: 1) individual health care; 2) public health care; 3) pharmaceutical activities; and 4) traditional medicine, folk medicine, and non-medical methods of health recovery. Article
5. The Purposes of Health Activities The purposes of health activities shall be as follows: 1) to reduce the falling behind of certain social and professional groups of society from other groups of society as shown by the health condition indicators, without worsening the general level of the population's health; 2) to protect population against diseases, avoidable death or invalidity; 3) to extend the length of life without diseases and traumas, and improve its quality; and 4) to increase economic and social efficiency of life. Article
6. Principles of Regulating of the Health Activities The following principles shall be applied to the regulation of the relations specified in Article 1 of this Law: 1) the all-round protection of the individual and public health; 2) the coordination of individual, public health and state interests; 3) the equality of individual's rights to have the best possible health regardless of his or her sex, race, nationality, citizenship, social status and profession; 4) the individual's freedom to chose as good health conditions as possible; 5) the acceptability, accessibility and adequacy of the individual health care; 6) the persons' freedom to unite into public organizations, defending the interests of public and individual health, and the State support of the programmes of activities of these organizations; 7) the all-round, rightful and timely informing of the population about the conditions of promoting the best possible health and advertising of these conditions; 8) the participation of public organizations in the health activities management directly as well as through the democratically elected representatives; 9) the State support of persons in protecting, recovering and improving their health; 10) the partial or full compensation, which is guaranteed by the State, of health care costs which might worsen the quality of life; 11) the all-round prevention of threat and damage to individual and public health exercised by all subjects of the health activities; and 12) the promotion by the State of economic efforts and initiatives beneficial to health. If the relations specified in Article 1 of this Law are not regulated by laws and provisions of legal norms, which regulate similar relations, cannot be applied thereto, the principles set forth in Par. 1 of this Article shall be applied in the settlement of any disputes that may arise. Chapter 2 The Lithuanian National Health System Article
7. The Foundations of Forming of the Lithuanian National Health System The foundations of forming of the Lithuanian National Health System shall be as follows: 1) ensuring of social justice in health activities; 2) integration of all resources of health activities into a unified system, their planning and use according to the national priorities of health activities; 3) integration of individual health care and public health care into a unified system; 4) introducing of the elements of the social market economy into health activities without violating the national priorities of health activities; 5) ensuring of the implementation of the Lithuanian health programme, and the programmes of the health system reform; 6) ensuring of intersector coordination of the health activities; and 7) ensuring of participation of the public in the health activities management. Article
8. The Structure of the Lithuanian National Health System The Lithuanian National Health System (hereinafter referred to as the LNHS) shall consist of: 1) the executive bodies of the LNHS; 2) the managing bodies of the LNHS; 3) the resources of the LNHS; and 4) the activities and a range of services rendered by the LNHS. Article
9. The Executive Bodies of the LNHS The executive bodies of the LNHS shall be: 1) state and municipal individual and/or public health care institutions; and 2) enterprises, accredited for certain types of health activities and having concluded health activities contracts with the customers of activities and a range of services by the LNHS in accordance with the procedure established by this Law. Article
10. The Managing Bodies of the LNHS The managing bodies of the LNHS shall be: 1) bodies of state management of the LNHS activities; 2) municipalities and their institutions; 3) institutions coordinating the LNHS activities; 4) special managing bodies of the LNHS; and 5) institutions exercising control over the conditions of the LNHS activities. The managing bodies of the LNHS shall within their competence supervise and coordinate the health activities of other health activities bodies which do not belong to the LNHS system, according to the procedure established by this and other laws and legal acts. Article
11. The Resources of the LNHS The LNHS resources shall comprise: 1) the land, which belongs to the State or municipalities by the public ownership right and it intended for recreational purposes and organizing of health resorts; 2) natural resources (mineral water, curative mud, etc.) intended for medical rehabilitation activities carried out by the LNHS; 3) material resources intended for ensuring of the LNHS management; 4) the property of the LNHS executive and managing bodies; 5) financial resources from the State and municipal budgets intended for ensuring of the LNHS activities; 6) funds of compulsory health insurance; 7) any other property, assigned by laws for ensuring of the LNHS activities; 8) specialists and other employees of state and municipal institutions of individual and public health care, state enterprises which are accredited for individual or public health care and pharmaceutical activities; and 9) databases of information concerning individual and public health. The LNHS resources shall be regulated by this and other laws and legal acts. A claim to property cannot be made to state or municipal institutions of individual or public health care. Article
12. The LNHS Activities and Services The activities and a range of services rendered by the LNHS shall comprise: 1) individual health care; 2) public health care; 3) pharmaceutical activities; and 4) paid services specified in Chapter 4 of Part 1 of this Law. Article
13. Levels of Organizing of the LNHS Activities The levels of organizing of the LNHS activities shall be as follows: 1) primary (hereinafter referred to as "primary health activities"); 2) secondary (hereinafter referred to as "secondary health activities"); and 3) tertiary (hereinafter referred to as "tertiary health activities"). The primary health activities shall comprise administrative units of municipal territories. It shall be carried out by the LNHS bodies subordinate to municipalities. Other LNHS executive bodies belonging to the levels of organizing of the LNHS activities may within their competence perform this work on a contractual basis. The secondary health activities shall comprise higher-level administrative units. It shall be carried out by the LNHS bodies of higher-level administrative units. The LNHS executive bodies belonging to the tertiary level of organizing of the LNHS activities may within their competence perform this work on a contractual basis. The tertiary health activities shall be carried out within their competence by university and academic clinics and other medical treatment centers, which provide specialized and very specialized medical treatment to persons without taking into consideration their places of residence. These LNHS executive bodies may within their competence carry out the primary and secondary health activities on a contractual basis. The procedure and conditions of implementation of the primary health activities shall be established by laws and other legal acts. The list of types of the primary, secondary and tertiary health activities and the LNHS executive bodies of health activities which implement them, their competence, procedure and conditions of the secondary and tertiary health activities shall be established by laws and other legal acts. Article
14. The Exclusive Rights of Health Activities of the LNHS Executive Bodies The LNHS executive bodies shall have the right to provide and carry out: 1) individual health care (free of charge) supported by the State and local authorities; 2) medical and social examination, forensic medical examination, forensic psychiatric and narcological examination, and pathologoanatomical examination; 3) public health care measures entered in the list established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania; and 4) state monitoring of public health and state expert examination of public health. Article
15. Customers of the LNHS Activities and Rendered Services The main customers of the LNHS activities and rendered services shall be the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, its institutions, local authorities, state and territorial patients' funds, other legal and natural persons. The limits of the orders for the LNHS activities and rendered services which can be established by the relevant customers of the LNHS activities, shall be regulated by the laws and other legal acts. Chapter 3 Levels of Health Activities Section 1 The Required Level of Health Activities Article
16. The Indicators of the Required Level of Health Activities The required level of health activities shall establish the scope of health activities which are supported by the State or local authorities, necessary conditions for health activities, the list of measures and institutions which are necessary for retaining or maintaining of the already achieved level of public health. The required level of health activities shall be defined by: 1) the lists of necessary diagnostic measures approved by the Ministry of Health; 2) the necessary assortment of medicines and other medical articles approved by the Ministry of Health; 3) the list of individual health care measures supported by the State and local authorities free of charge; 4) the list of state institutions and services of individual and public health care, and pharmacies according to the type thereof; 5) the list of necessary measures of public health care; 6) the established necessary conditions of individual and public health care; 7) obligatory State and municipal health programmes; and 8) the basic volume, established by this Law, of financing of health activities which are carried out by the Lithuanian National Health System, from the State, municipal budgets and compulsory health insurance funds. The required level of health activities shall be established taking into consideration the demographic, health and environmental quality indicators and tendencies of changes thereof. The required level of health activities, with the exception of the indicators of acceptability and adequacy of individual and public health care established in items 1 and 2 of Par.2 of this Article, shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the joint recommendation of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Council. Article 17.The Structure of Individual Health Care Supported (Free of Charge) by the State and Local Authorities The individual health care supported (free of charge) by the State and local authorities shall comprise: 1) the preventative medical treatment; 2) restorative medical treatment; 3) medical rehabilitation; 4) nursing; 5) social services and social assistance in medical treatment; and 6) services which are attributed to medical treatment in accordance with the manner prescribed by this Law. Article
17. Individual Health Care Supported (Free of Charge) by the State The following shall be attributed to the individual health care supported (free of charge) by the State: 1) necessary medical treatment on the secondary and tertiary levels of health activities; 2) individual health care provided to servicemen, cadets and law and order and law-enforcement officers and volunteers; 3) individual health care provided to persons detained by the police, put into places of detention, prisoners (with the exception of medical rehabilitation in sanatorium and resort institutions); 4) individual health care provided to persons who have suffered from violations of law, provided that they are witnesses in criminal cases according to the procedure established by legal acts; 5) individual health care in accordance with the list of categories of civil servants established by the law; 6) individual health care provided to persons who are ill for an uninterrupted period of more than four months; 7) provision of persons ill with diseases, the list thereof is approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, with prostheses of teeth, limbs, joints and other organs; 8) individual health care provided to persons who are ill with tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, infectious and endocrinal diseases entered in the list established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as mental diseases, oncogenic diseases, alcoholism, drug dependence, and toxic substance addiction; and 9) blood donorship, haemodialysis, organ and tissue transplantation. The scope of individual health care (types of individual health care and the list of measures thereof) which is supported by the State, with the exception of the case specified in item 5 of Par.1 of this Article, shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the joint recommendation of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Council. Article
18. Individual Health Care Supported (Free of Charge) by Local Authorities The following shall be attributed to the individual health care supported (free of charge) by local authorities: 1) necessary medical treatment provided on the primary level of health activities; 2) individual health care of pregnant women; 3) individual health care provided to mothers until the baby is one year of age; 4) individual health care provided to the family members of unemployed and disabled persons; 5) individual health care provided to persons under 16 years of age; 6) individual health care provided to persons whose income is less than the level of income supported by the State, as well as orphans under 18 years of age; 7) individual health care provided to invalids of group I; and 8) provision of persons of established categories with prostheses of teeth. The scope of individual health care (types of individual health care and the list of measures thereof) which is supported by local authorities shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the joint recommendation of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Council. Local authorities shall have the right, when possible, to establish an additional scope, comparing to the scope established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, of individual and public health care supported by local authorities, on the joint recommendation of a physician of the town or district municipality and the community health council. Article
19. Necessary Conditions of Health Activities The necessary conditions of health activities in the Republic of Lithuania shall be as follows: 1) accrediting for individual, public health care activities or pharmaceutical activities; and 2) accessibility, acceptability and adequacy of individual and public health care. Health activities shall comprise only the territory of the State of Lithuania, unless otherwise provided for in international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania. The procedure and conditions of accrediting for individual, public health care or pharmaceutical activities shall be established by this Law and other legal acts. The indicators of accessibility of individual health care shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the joint recommendation of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Council. The requirements for the acceptability of individual health care shall be established by laws and other legal acts. The requirements and norms of adequacy of individual health care shall be regulated by normative documents of standardization, which are prepared by university, academic clinics and centres. Normative documents of standardization which regulate the requirements for adequacy of public health care shall be within their competence prepared by the State Public Health Care Service in the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania, institutions of control over the health activities conditions in other governmental institutions. These normative documents shall within their competence be approved by the Ministry of Health or the Lithuanian Standardization Agency in the Ministry of Economics. The necessary conditions of health activities must be ensured by all subjects of health activities. Health activities subjects which do not ensure the established necessary conditions of health activities, shall be liable under laws. Section II Contractual Level of Health Activities Article
20. Conditions of Establishing of the Contractual Level of Health Activities The health activities which do not belong to the required level of health activities shall be attributed to the contractual level of health activities. The scope and conditions of the contractual level of health activities shall be established by the contract of health activities provided by this Law. The scope and conditions of the contractual level of health activities, determined by the parties to those contracts, must not worsen the required level of health activities. Article
21. A Health Activities Contract and the Procedure for Concluding It A health activities contract shall be an agreement between a subject or subjects of health activities (contractor or contractors) who have the right to engage into health activities or carry out them and a customer of customers of health activities, by which the subject (subjects) of health activities shall undertake an obligation to carry out health activities of certain scope and types, render a range of services of this field, and the customer (customers) of health activities shall undertake an obligation to pay for the performed work and rendered services. Article
22. The Parties to Health Activities Contracts Governmental institutions, bodies of administration of local authorities, health insurance institutions, enterprises, institutions, organizations, legal and natural persons may be the parties to the health activities contracts on the one part and legal persons, enterprises without a status of a legal person, accredited for health activities - on the other part. Article
23. Conclusion of a Health Activities Contract The health activities contract must normally be concluded in writing. It shall be considered concluded, if the parties to the contract agree upon the basic terms and conditions of the health activities contract. Article
24. The Structure, Text and Validity of the Health Activities Contract The parties to health activities contracts shall establish the structure, chapters and appendices of the contracts. The text of the health activities contract shall be the terms and conditions of the contract specified by the parties to it, defining the rights and duties of the parties, the procedure for carrying out thereof and the responsibility of the parties, as well as basic terms and conditions of health activities contracts established by this Law. The parties to the contract cannot establish in the contract such conditions of health activities which would worsen conditions of health activities comparing them with those which are established in this Law, other laws and legal acts. In the case of a dispute concerning application of the terms and conditions of the health activities contract, it shall be settled in the court. The health activities contract shall become effective on the moment of its signing. Terms of the duration of a contract shall be established upon mutual agreement of the parties. Article
25. Basic Terms and Conditions of the Health Activities Contract In each contract of health activities, its parties must agree on the following basic terms and conditions: 1) the types of health activities, scope of these activities and terms of implementation; 2) prices of health activities and the procedure for financing of the scope of health activities agreed upon by the parties, as well as compensation for general, particular, additional expenses; 3) the procedure for compensation of expenses of transportation of patients, medicines and medicinal substances; 4) the provision of time for engaging in private health activities; 5) procedures for amendment, supplement and termination of the health activities contract; 6) an additional, comparing to this Law, material liability, which is established by the parties to the contract, for an improper fulfillment of the contract obligations and the unilateral termination thereof; and 7) the procedure and terms of fulfillment of the contract obligations and the control over them. Item 4 of Par.1 of this Article shall be applied only to private health activities subjects, who have concluded a contract with the LNHS customers concerning performance of work on the required level of health activities. Article
26. Control over the Execution of the Health Care Contract Control over the fulfilment of obligations of health activities contract shall be carried out by the parties which have entered into such contract. The procedure and time limits for reporting on the fulfilment of obligations under health activities contract, by representative of the parties to the contract shall be set forth in the contract. Article
27. Liability for Failure to Perform the Health Activities Contract Both parties to the contract shall be liable for performing of health activities contracts. The grounds for the unilateral termination of health activities contract shall be established by the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania. If the obligations of the health activities contract are not fulfilled or the contract is terminated unilaterally through the fault of the subject of health activities (contractor), losses incurred by health activities customer shall be compensated with the funds of the health activities subject (contractor). If the obligations of the health activities contract are failed to be fulfilled or the contract is unilaterally terminated through the fault of the health activities customer, the losses incurred by the health activities subject (contractor) shall be compensated with the funds of the health activities customer. Chapter 4 Paid Services in Health Activities Rendered by State and Municipal Institutions of Individual and Public Health Care and Subjects of Pharmaceutical Activities Article
28. Paid Individual Health Care Services Paid individual health care services shall comprise the following: 1) individual health care measures entered in the list drawn up by the Ministry of Health and the National Health Council and approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania; 2) services (bed linen, hospital clothing, telephone, TV set, etc.), entered in the list established by the Ministry of Health, which are rendered in in-patient individual health care institutions; 3) sending of individuals to foreign health care institutions in the established procedure; 4) provision with medicines which are more expensive, but possessing analogous effect in in-patient medical treatment institutions; and 5) services entered in the list established by the Ministry of Health, which are rendered in individual health care institutions upon the death of a patient. The procedure for rendering of paid individual health care services, rates, procedure for paying and reduced charges shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the basis of this Law, Law on State Social Insurance and other laws. Article
29. Paid Pharmaceutical Services Paid pharmaceutical services shall comprise: 1) registration of medicines; 2) expert examination of the quality of medicines on the order of legal and natural persons; 3) sale without a prescription of medicines (except for medicines possessing narcotic and psychotropic effects, which are entered in the established list) to the population in pharmacies; 4) accepting of orders by telephone from medical treatment institutions and legal persons accredited for individual health care for compounding of extempore medicines (except for medicines possessing narcotic and psychotropic effects which are entered in the established list); 5) delivery of medicines to customers; and 6) other services. The procedure for rendering of paid pharmaceutical services, rates, procedure for paying and reduced charges shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the basis of this Law and other legal acts. Article
30. Paid Public Health Care Services Paid public health care services shall comprise: 1) health training of workers of professions, jobs, branches of production established by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania; 2) public health monitoring, public health expert examination conducted on the order of interested legal and natural persons; 3) preventive vaccination of adults, with the exception of the vaccination carried out in the centers of dangerous infections and for the purpose of treatment; 4) disinfection, disinsection, deratization of premises and territories, except for works, carried out in the centers of dangerous and extremely dangerous infections; 5) issue and distribution of normative documents of standardization and other publications concerning the matters of public health care; 6) drawing up of health programmes on the order of interested legal and natural persons; and 7) other public health care services. The procedure for rendering of paid public health care services, rates, procedure for paying shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on basis of this Law and other legal acts. Part II Health Activities Chapter 1 Engaging in Health Activities Article
31. The Right to Engage in Health Activities in the Republic of Lithuania The right to engage in individual or public health care or to apply its measures shall be enjoyed by persons who have received education and special training in institutions preparing these specialists and authorized by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania to issue documents certifying an adequate qualification of an individual or public health care specialist, as well as who are accredited in the manner prescribed by this Law and other legal acts for individual or public health care and who possess the license to engage in these types of activities in the Republic of Lithuania. The conditions and procedure for accrediting of persons for other types of health activities shall be established by this Law and other laws. In the procedure established by the Ministry of Health, individual or public health care services may be rendered by foreign individual or public health care specialists only for charity purposes or for the purposes of specialist training, unless otherwise provided for in international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania. Upon obtaining in the established procedure a license to engage in private practice, specialists of state or municipal institutions of individual or public health care shall have the right to engage in private practice only outside these institutions. The Ministry of Health shall determine the qualification and the procedure for recognizing of the qualification of persons who have received individual or public health care education, but do not have a special training. The right to engage in health activities may be taken away only on the basis and in the procedure established by laws. Article
32. Professional Duties, Rights, Professional Training and Responsibility of Individual and Public Health Care Specialists Laws and other legal acts shall establish main professional duties, rights of individual and public health care specialists, text of the Hippocratic oath and the conditions and manner in which it is taken, procedure for restriction of their practice, as well as the responsibility for the health damage done in the process of health care. Article
33. The Duty of Health Care Specialists to Keep the Secret of Individual's Health (Medical Secret) Individual or public health care specialists shall be restricted from violating of confidentiality of the information about individual's health, which they have acquired while performing professional duties. The medical ethics requirements for keeping the information about individual's health confidential shall be established by the Ministry of Health. Chapter 2 Individual Health Care Section 1 Preventive Medical Aid Article
34. Information Services Regarding Prophylaxis Questions All those involved in individual health care shall provide information services on issues of disease prophylaxis. The Ministry of Health shall determine the conditions and order of provision of such services. Article
35. Selective Individual Health Examinations Selective individual health examinations are conducted in accordance with the decision of and the order established by the Ministry of Health. The Health Information Services shall determine the number of respondents, who shall be subject to selective health examinations, and the methods of collection, accumulation and processing of the statistical information. Article
36. Immuno-prophylaxis and Chemical Prophylaxis of Communicable Diseases The Ministry of Health shall establish the list of those who must carry out the immuno-prophylaxis and chemical prophylaxis of communicable diseases, as well as the contents, conditions and order of the immuno-prophylaxis and chemical prophylaxis of these diseases. Compulsory measures of immuno-prophylaxis and chemical prophylaxis may only be applied on the grounds and according to the procedure provided by laws, in the event of an actual threat that they may succumb to particularly dangerous or dangerous communicable diseases. Medical specialists who are in violation of the requirements of this Article, are held responsible under the laws. Article
37. Prophylactic Examinations Workers of certain professions and individuals, working in certain fields and lines of production, must submit to a health examination prior to engaging in professional activity and during the course of such activity. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania compiles the list of workers in these professions, jobs and production branches and sectors, as well as the procedure for individuals' prophylactic examinations. The health of workers of the professions, jobs and production branches and sectors, listed by the Ministry of Health, as well as of those individuals who had associated with those who had contracted the diseases specified on the list of communicable diseases, established by the Ministry of Health, shall be subject to required health examinations. Medical aid institutions shall within the prescribed time limit, examine the health of: 1) pregnant women, and children under 16 years of age; 2) mothers, until the infant reaches the age of one. 3) individuals who had associated with patients, who had contracted communicable diseases, included on the list established by the Ministry of Health. Workers of the professions, jobs, production branches and sectors, listed and other individuals, who had associated with patients, who had contracted communicable diseases, included on the list of communicable diseases, provided by the Ministry of Health, shall be quarantined and held under observation, for the purpose of having their health monitored, over the period of time, specified by this Law or other laws. In the event these individuals, the persons close to them, or their representatives, do not agree with the doctor's decision regarding isolation and health status observation, these individuals must, in accordance with the established order, be placed under compulsory quarantine and compulsory health observation. The police must, at the request of the institutions of health protection, assist in placing such persons under quarantine. Individuals working in the professions, branches and sectors of production established by the Government, as well as individuals who have associated with those who had contracted the communicable diseases included on the list provided by the Ministry of Health, who refuse to have their health examined in the prescribed time period, shall be held responsible under the laws. Section 2 Medical Recovery Aid Article
38. Vital Medical Aid The following shall be attributed to vital medical aid: 1) first medical aid; 2) institutional (in-patient or out-patient) urgent medical aid. For those individuals, who must be rendered medical aid, in order to save their lives, because of accidents, accidental emergencies, ecological or natural disasters, or due to sudden onset of illness, medical and pharmaceutical specialists, who were present together with the victims or patients at the site of an accident or sudden acute and life-threatening illness, must render first medical aid. Out-patient medical aid must be provided by: 1) mobile, urgent first aid services; and 2) the nearest individual health-care institutions. Urgent in-patient medical aid must be rendered in specialised in-patient medical care institutions or specialised sections of medical aid institutions, for rendering this type of aid. In the event the life of this individual is seriously endangered, urgent in-patient medical aid may be rendered without the consent of the individual, following a decision by at least two consultant physicians, and having informed the patient, his family members or his representative, and in instances where the victim or suddenly taken ill individual, happens to be a minor, his parents or guardians must be notified of the medical aid rendered to him. The Ministry of Health shall determine the content of urgent medical care, the basis, conditions, and order of rendering it and the competence of institutions of personal health care, and medical/pharmaceutical specialists on questions of rendering urgent medical aid, in keeping within the allotted fund limits. The Ministry of Health shall determine the structure, establishment and order of financing, and competence of mobile urgent medical aid services. Individuals, who are bound by this Law and other legal acts, to furnish vital medical aid, who have by their inaction or actions, contributed to the health damage of victims or individuals experiencing sudden illness, shall be applied disciplinary, administrative, material, and criminal responsibility, as prescribed by laws. Article
39. Application of Diagnostic and Treatment Measures The scope of diagnostic measures, applied at the medical aid institutions of the Republic of Lithuania, must not be smaller than those prescribed by the lists of obligatory measures in disease diagnostics. Medical aid specialists shall have the right to choose treatment technologies, in the order prescribed by this Law and other legal acts. The order of application of the treatment technologies shall be established by the normative documents of health care standardisation. Medication shall be apportioned to diagnostic and treatment measures, provided that it is: 1) prescribed by a physician or another individual, entitled to prescribe it; 2) they are registered in the Republic of Lithuania, in the prescribed order; A medical specialist may employ all scientifically substantiated, but not yet registered, in the prescribed order medicines, prophylactics, diagnostic and treatment methods, medical equipment and instruments only in trying to cure the patient and, to save or prolong his life. In this instance, he must obtain permission of the patient, and if the patient is unconscious, or is a minor, of his/her parents, relatives, guardians, or his representative's permission and also, the consent of the ethics commission, of the health aid institution, regarding the use of such individual health care technologies use. This consent must be executed in writing. When the patient is in an unconscious state and there is no information available regarding his relatives, parents, guardians or his/her representatives, these technologies shall only be applied by written consent and with the approval, by at least, two physicians in consultation, as well as that of the ethics commission of the medical aid institution. The application of compulsory hospitalisation, compulsory diagnostic, and compulsory treatment measures to individuals, shall only be allowed in accordance with the order prescribed by law, in the presence of a genuine threat, that these individuals by actions, or because of the state of their health may cause substantial harm to their own health or life or to that of other persons. Medical experts, who violate these requirements, shall be held responsible in accordance with the order prescribed by law. Article
40. Transfusions of Human Blood and its Products Human blood for transfusion purposes or blood products' production, may be taken from a donor solely, of the free will and by the consent of the donor. Human blood and its products may only be imported in and transported out of the Republic of Lithuania, for donor purposes, on the basis of agreements concluded with legal persons of foreign countries, by individual health care facilities accredited for this purpose. The conditions and order of importing into the Republic of Lithuania and exporting from it of human blood and its products, the quantity of donor's blood and its products, intended for individual treatment use, to be imported into the Republic by Lithuanians and foreign nationals, and the conditions and order of conducting tests of human blood and its products in order to ascertain their harmlessness to human health, to be used for transfusion, shall be established by the Ministry of Health. The conditions and order of taking of human blood for donorship, production of blood products and use of human organs and tissue for transplants, medical research, diagnostics and treatment, order and conditions shall be established by laws. Individuals in violation of this Article shall be held responsible in accordance with laws. Article
41. Transplantation of Human Tissue and Organs Human tissues and/or organs may not be objects of commercial transactions and must be used only for transplants or for biomedical research purposes. The purchase or sale of human tissue and/or organs of the human body and the advertisement of such activities, shall be punishable in accordance with the laws. Conditions and order of the use of human tissues and organs taken from a body, for use in transplantation, medical research, diagnostics and treatment and tissue and/or organ donor rights, are established by laws. Section 3 Medical Rehabilitation, Nursing , Social Services, Care and Assistance Attributed to Individual Health Care Article
42. Medical Rehabilitation The conditions and order of Medical rehabilitation of patients, in medical assistance and nursing facilities, patient selection and their dispatching to rehabilitation hospitals and sanatoriums shall be established by the Ministry of Health. The fundamentals of the invalids' medical rehabilitation organising system shall be established by the Law on Social Integration of Invalids. The conditions and order of medical rehabilitation of invalids is established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The order of identification of localities suitable for medical (and social) rehabilitation, as resorts, as well as the conditions of resort organisation, shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
43. Nursing Individuals shall be nursed at home, as well as, in medical aid, nursing and social care institutions. The content, conditions and order of nursing of disabled and senior individuals shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
44. Social Services and Social Care Provided under Individual Medical Care Provision of social services and social care shall be organised within the auspices of individual health care for the purpose of reducing the psycho-emotional stress level and to assist them in fighting stress and ensure their social security. The social services and social care are managed by the social workers of medical aid institutions. The order and conditions of the social services kinds and the scope of supplying them, the content of social care of an individuals in health care, as well as the regulations guiding health care social workers, are established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The order of social workers preparation and the raising of their qualifications is established by Ministries of Social Protection and Labour. Article
45. Services and Other Assistance, Attributed to Medical Aid The following services and other types of assistance are attributed to medical aid: 1) pharmaceutical aid (prescription acceptance and checking, selection of medicine of equivalent effect, oral or written information of the individual regarding administering of the medicine, informing about the safe use of the medicine, issuing of non-prescription medicine, issuing for self-administering of medicines, or other means of medicinal purpose, in accordance with the health condition problems, indicated by the individual and in the order established for issuance of the medicine, provision of information regarding its availability); 2) patient transportation, prosthesis, orthopaedic appliances, provision with compensational equipment, articles and products (including food products), used in medical aid, and services. The services, as well as other assistance, specified in the first part of this article, shall be attributed to medical aid, provided they: 1) prescribed by a doctor, or another person, having the right to prescribe them; 2) they are included in the list of prescribed services, compiled by the medical aid subject and the customer of his activities, the Ministry of Health, or municipal governments, when these services belong to an individual's health care, supported by state or municipalities. The medical aid shall not comprise services and products intended for cosmetic or hygienic use, even if they are also beneficial for individual health purposes. Section 4 Expert Examination of Individual's Health Article
46. Expert Examination of the Health Potential of an Individual Individual health potential expert examinations shall be performed by health centres. The Ministry of Health shall establish the order of the performance and organisation of this expert examination. Article
47. Medical Expert Examination of Ability To Work Temporary individual expert examination of work ability shall be performed by medical aid institution doctor or doctors' commission. The order of organisation and performance of this expert examination shall be established by the Ministry of Health. Article
48. Medical and Social Expert Examination In instances of long-term or permanent disability, a medical and social expert examination shall be performed by a state medical aid institution social and medical commissions and State medical-social expert commissions. The order of approval of regulations and competence of these commissions and their competence is regulated by the Law on Social Integration of Invalids. The medical and social criteria, regarding long-term or permanent work disability, shall be established by the Ministry of Health along with the Ministry of Social Protection and the Ministry of Labour. Article
49. Forensic Expert Medical Examination The forensic medical expert examination shall be performed based upon the decision of the interrogation bodies, investigation bodies, or per decision by the prosecutor, or court decision, as well. Expert examinations shall be performed by the State Forensic Medicine Service. The order of the expert examination and performance is established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
50. Forensic Psychiatric and Forensic Narcological Expert Examination Forensic psychiatric and forensic narcologic expert examinations shall be conducted based on the decisions by interrogation bodies, investigation bodies, or the prosecutor, as well as court decision. Expert examinations shall be performed by the State Forensic Psychiatric and Forensic Narcological Service. The order of organisation and performance of the expert examination shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
51. Pathoanatomical Expert Examination Pathoanatomical expert examination shall be performed, following the death of an individual. The conditions and order of the pathoanatomical examination (autopsy) shall be regulated by laws and other legal acts. Chapter 3 Public Health Care Article
52. Universal Character of Public Health Care The duty of all natural and legal persons shall be to take care of public health, the aim of which consists in promoting of health, preventing of the deterioration of the quality of consumer goods, food products, drinking water and residential, work, and natural environment, preventing of diseases and traumas, and decreasing the morbidity rate. Legal and natural persons who are in violation of this requirement, shall be held responsible, in accordance with the order established by this and other laws. Article
53. Promotion of Public Health The promotion of public health shall consist of: 1) health propaganda in the mass media; 2) popularisation of health knowledge; 3) health education; 4) family planning consultation. Health propaganda, supporting initiatives of health policy shall be organised through the mass media by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or municipalities, from the Government or municipality funds. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall determine the order and conditions with reference to the health propaganda disseminated through mass information media. Health knowledge promoting a healthy lifestyle among the population, shall be popularised, consultations on family planning shall be organised in accordance with state and municipality health programs. Health instruction shall be comprised of the totality of voluntary and compulsory health education measures, as well as physical training and physical culture measures. The conditions and order of health promotion shall be regulated by this and other laws and legal acts. Article
54. Protection of Public Health The basis of public health protection shall be comprised of a system of measures limiting harm and danger in living, working and natural environment. Prevention and limitation of danger and harm to health shall be implemented: by applying: 1) hygienic regulation of indicators and requirements of non-dangerousness and harmlessness of economic or another type of activity, to health of the working, living and natural environment, foodstuffs and drinking water and raw materials, machinery and equipment, as well as other goods; 2) licensing of economic and commercial, as well as of other activity; 3) accrediting of legal and natural persons for individuals and public health care activities; by establishing: 4) sanitary protection zones; 5) quotas for production of goods detrimental to health; by suspending economic-commercial and other activities detrimental or dangerous to health; by applying individual excise duties to the goods detrimental to health, included in the Law on Excise Duties and other methods of economic regulation; by applying responsibility, established by law for violations of legal acts on health activities. Raw materials, equipment, machinery, building materials, elements of residential dwelling interiors, food and its packaging, tare, other goods, and drinking water should not incur any risk to health, or else this risk may only be minimal. Standardisation normative documents of the Republic of Lithuania, which are being prepared by the Ministry of Health, determine requirements for and indices of non-dangerousness and harmlessness to health, working, residential and natural environment. The types of economic-commercial activities that are detrimental to human health, and their work and living environment, for which a permit must be obtained from the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, or from the State Public Health Care Service, authorised by it, shall be limited through refusals to issue licenses for such activities, in accordance with decisions by the Law on Enterprises. Economic-commercial activities by enterprises, that have an adverse effect upon people's health, and their working and health environment, must be limited in accordance with the order established by the Law on Enterprises, shall be limited by refusing of revoking the permit (license) for this activity. The criteria for such revocation and suspension or banning of the above-mentioned activities and the order of granting authorisation to legal persons, shall be established by this Law, the Law on Enterprises and other laws and legal acts. State agencies and state inspectorates, which are exercising control over public health, shall decide on the harmfulness of the economic-commercial and other activities. The conditions and order of expert examinations regarding the harmfulness or dangerousness to health of services of economic and commercial and other activities, living, working, or studying conditions, various structures, their designs, technological processes, drinking water, raw materials, machinery and equipment and other goods and services laws and other state acts shall be established by the laws and other legal acts. The lists of goods detrimental or dangerous to health the production and sale of which and supplying of services detrimental and dangerous to health, must be prohibited and limited in accordance with the order established by this Law, and the lists shall be confirmed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Production quotas of harmful or dangerous goods, whose manufacture must be limited, shall be established by Government agencies, which issue permits (licenses), for the manufacture of such goods. The order of accreditation in health supervision or pharmaceutical activity and taxation of harmful goods by individual excise amounts, shall be determined by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
55. Prophylaxis and Control of Contagious Diseases Those individuals engaged in health activities shall carry out the first, second and tertiary prophylaxis of and exercise control over infectious diseases, within their competence. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania, ministries and other Government agencies shall guarantee the protection of the territory of the Republic of Lithuania and its population members from the importation and spread of particularly dangerous and dangerous contagious diseases. The Ministry of Health shall approve and update lists of such diseases. The order of application of a system of sanitary-antiepidemic and quarantine measures intended to protect the population from particularly dangerous and dangerous diseases shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Veterinary-sanitary requirements for the prophylaxis of the previously-mentioned diseases shall be established by the Veterinary Law. In the event of the existence of a threat of appearance or spread of infectious diseases and after the appearance and spread of such, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, or municipal governments may, in the order prescribed by laws, introduce within appropriate territories, state of emergency measures and regimes regarding work, study, travel and transportation, in order to provide protection from such diseases. Legal and natural persons, who have violated the established requirements regarding the prophylaxis and control of communicable diseases, shall be held responsible in accordance with the laws. Article
56. Extraordinary Situations Affecting Public Health Situations that are extraordinary with respect to public health, shall be the circumstances which arise in development of public health, under which the effect of environmental factors cause a sudden: 1) arising danger that group and mass damage to health may occur; 2) occurrence of group or mass damage to the health of the population. The territory where the danger of group or mass health damage suddenly arises, is declared a region dangerous to the health of the population, shall be declared by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania a region dangerous to public health. The territory on which damage is caused to the health of groups of the population, or the health of a large population mass is harmed, is declared by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania an area harmful to public health. The criterion for determining extraordinary to public health situations, the administration, control, and removal of effects negative to public health and economy, and also the order of their financing, shall be approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
57. Prophylaxis and Control of Non-Infectious Diseases and Traumas Enterprises, establishments, organisations, medical aid and social rehabilitation and nursing institutions shall control within their competence cases of non-infectious illness, as well as prophylaxis of traumas, morbidity and traumatization. The conditions and order of prophylaxis and control of occupational diseases and poisoning shall be established by the Law on Safety at Work, other laws and legal acts. Prophylactic measures and content of traumatization resulting from transport-connected circumstances are established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The application of measures of secondary and tertiary prophylaxis of non-infectious diseases shall be established by this Law and other legal acts. Article
58. Public Health Control Public health control shall be exercised by the State and municipalities. 1) state control of alcohol; 2) state control of tobacco; 3) state narcotic substance control; 4) state hygienic control; 5) state environmental protection control; 6) state control of organisation of safety at work; 7) state control of radiation safety within the nuclear power system; 8) state veterinary control; 9) state medical audit. Municipalities shall maintain sanitary control of healthy living environment within their respective territories. The content of public health control, order of its implementation and the competence of control institutions shall be regulated by this Law, the Law on Veterinary Medicine, Law on Environmental Protection, Law on Labour Protection, other laws and legal acts. The content and order of sanitary control, which must be conducted by municipalities within their territorial administrative units shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the proposal of the Ministry of Health. Article
59. Suspension of Economic and Commercial Activities Detrimental to Health State inspections and municipal sanitary inspections, exercising public health control shall have the right to demand that the employer (individual authorised by him) would suspend the work if: 1) the employer does not fulfil the legal requirements of public health care state inspectorates; 2) it becomes evident that raw materials, manufactured and sold production, sold goods and means of work are harmful to health; 3) due to violation of normative documents of health care standardisation, the health environment becomes dangerous to health or damage to health is done; 4) other grounds established by the laws. The order of suspension of work due to danger and harm to health causes, is established by this law, Labour Protection Law and other laws. State inspectorates, controlling public health care, and the municipality sanitary inspectorates, who determine legal act violations of public health care, may apply penalties and economic sanctions, whose order of application and exaction is established by the Code of Violations of Administrative Law, and other laws and legal acts. Article
60. The Functions of Health Activity Management, Attributed to Public Health Care The functions of health activity, described in Part IV, Chapter 2, Articles 86,87,88,89,90, and 94 are attributed to public health care. Chapter 4 Pharmaceutical Activities, Traditional Medicine, Folk Medicine and Non-Medical Measures of Health Recovery Article
61. Pharmaceutical Activities Only legal individuals, enterprises, not holding the status of legal person, natural individuals, who are accredited for this activity, shall have the right to engage in pharmaceutical activities. The structure of pharmaceutical activity, the legal bases of its organisation and the order and the conditions of accreditation of this activity shall be established by this Law, the Law on Pharmaceutical Activity and other laws and legal acts. Article
62. Traditional medicine, Folk Medicine, Non -Medical Health Recovery Measures Traditional medicine, folk medicine, non-medical health recovery measures shall be supplied solely by juridical and natural individuals, accredited in the order prescribed by legal acts, for this activity. The order and conditions of traditional medicine, folk medicine services and non-medical measures of health recovery application are established by this Law and other legal acts. Part III Executive Bodies of Health Activities, the Content of their Rights and Duties Chapter 1 Executive Bodies of Health Activities, Public Health Care Pharmaceutical Activity Subjects and their Founding Article
63. Individual Health Care, Public Health Care and Pharmaceutical Activity Entity Founding Founding of individual health care, public health care and pharmaceutical activity shall be regulated by laws and other legal acts. The public individual health care, public health care institutions, and public pharmacies shall be founded by a decision of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or upon its order, by the Ministry of Health. Municipality individual health care and public health care institutions, or pharmacies shall be founded per decision of a municipal council. Subjects of individual health care, public health care, or pharmaceutical activity, functioning in accordance with the right of private ownership, shall be founded by the decision of the founders themselves, upon obtaining a permit (license) from the Ministry of Health. Article
64. Founding Documents of Individual Health Care, Public Health Care and Pharmaceutical Activity Subjects Individual health care, public health care, as well as pharmaceutical activity founding documents shall be: 1) documents issued by State accrediting service or State pharmaceutical control service in accordance with its area of competence, attesting to the projected possibilities of the subject to ensure the required conditions of health activity; 2) individual health care, public health care, as well as pharmaceutical activity subjects' regulations (bylaws); 3) documents established by the Law on Enterprises or by other laws. The regulations (bylaws) of individual health care, public health care and pharmaceutical activity subjects are established in accordance with model regulations (bylaws) approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
65. Forms of Ownership and Subjects of Property Right within Individual Health Care, Public Health Care and Pharmaceutical Activity Forms of ownership, as well as property right subjects within individual health care and pharmaceutical activity, are regulated by the Civil Code. The property right objects, which are necessary to implement primary health activity, within a municipal territory, shall be assigned in accordance with municipal property laws. Article
66. Types and Range of Economic Activity of Subjects of Individual Health Care, Public Health Care and Pharmaceutical Activity and Their Nomenclature The type of economic activity conducted by subjects of individual and public health care and pharmaceutical activity, as well as their competence, shall be established by their founders and the laws. Subjects of individual health care, public health care, as well as pharmaceutical activity, which are being set up and function as State or municipal institutions, and also the types of health activity, that can be carried on solely by them, shall be established by this and other laws. The range of subjects of individual health care, public health care, as well as pharmaceutical activity, shall be regulated by this Law and other legal acts, in accordance with the health activity carried out by them. Article
67. Registration and Reregistration of State and Municipal Individual and Public Health Institutions Every state or municipal individual or public health care institution, prior to beginning of its health activity, must be registered in the register whose founder and senior registrar shall be the Ministry of Health. This register shall also be administered by the managerial bodies of municipalities. The Ministry of Health shall register only individual health care and public health care institutions, founded from state funds, and shall collect and process all data on all individual health care and public health care institutions registered with the municipalities of the Republic of Lithuania. Municipal administrative bodies shall register, accumulate and process data of individual and public health care institutions, founded on the basis of municipal funds. In the event, state or municipal individual or public health care institution founding document shall be changed or amended, they must be reregistered in accordance with the established order. The order of the registration and reregistration of the above, as well as the grounds for refusal to register State and municipal individual or public health care registration and reregistration shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
68. Liquidation of State and Municipal Individual or Public Health Care Institutions and Enterprises Engaged in Health Activities The grounds for liquidation of State or municipal individual or public health care institutions may be: 1) decision of the founder to terminate its activities; 2) the decision of the Ministry of Health or the municipal council to revoke the registration of the institution founded by the Ministry of Health or the municipal board, when they fail to obtain accreditation for individual or public health care. Grounds for liquidation of enterprises, engaging in health activity, shall be established by the Law on Enterprises. Chapter 2 Individual Health Care, Public Health Care and Pharmaceutical Activity Entity Rights and Obligations Article
69. The Rights of the Entities of Individual Health Care, Public Health Care and Pharmaceutical Activities Individual health care, public health care and pharmaceutical activity entities shall have the right to: 1) conclude agreements on health activities in accordance with this Law and other laws, as well as agreements provided for in the Civil Code; 2) hold accounts in one of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as one foreign-registry banks, and use the funds contained therein; 3) to establish ways and means of utilising of all the capital on hand, to the extent this does not contradict this Law, other laws and individual health care, public health care, or the pharmaceutical activity entity's regulations (bylaws); 4) conclude agreements on short-term interest free loans from non budgetary income to state (municipal) health care institutions, or on obtaining such loans; 5) establish, to the extent it does not contradict this Law, individual or public health care subject's regulations (bylaws), internal organisational structure, as well as its branches, for the purpose of servicing the primary activities of the subject of the individual health care, public health care or pharmaceutical activity and to receive additional income for its development and to define the legal status of divisions; 6) independently establish health activity relations with local and foreign partners; 7) establish personal health care activities and services, medicines and other medicinal article prices, tariffs, work compensation systems, excepting those instances when, according to this, or other laws, the prices of individual or public health care and service, medicine, and other medicinal designation article prices and other normatives, shall be regulated by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and municipalities; 8) submit legal claims for damages inflicted upon them through illegal acts of state authority bodies, municipal boards, health insurance institutions, and also by officials, in the performance of their job-related duties and administrative management actions. Individual or public health care subjects may also have other rights, provided they do not contradict this or other laws, as well as individual health care, public health care of pharmaceutical activity founding documents of the subjects. Article
70. The Duties of Individual Health Care, Public Health Care and Pharmaceutical Activity Entities The duties of individual health care, public health care and pharmaceutical activity entities shall be as follows: 1) to observe the requirements of this Law and other health activity laws, as well as those of legal acts; 2) to provide healthy and safe work environment conditions for medical personnel; 3) to attempt to prevent danger and damage to health or environment in health activity, and to also, limit the possible health danger and damage effects of this activity; 4) to ensure the compliance of their health activity with the provisions set forth in accreditation documents; 5) to ensure in keeping with one's own competence, the mandatory health activity conditions; 6) to supply the population with information concerning individual health care, public health care institutions and services, pharmacies, their activities and the services rendered by them; 7) to ensure individuals right to obtain information regarding one's own health, as well as the confidentiality of such information; 8) to organise public health monitoring and provide statistical health information, in the established order; 9) to provide timely information to State public health care service concerning identified contagious disease cases; 10) to organise in the order, prescribed by this Law, other laws and legal acts, the individual health care of medical personnel; 11) to organise, on the basis and order established by laws and other legal acts, liability insurance for subjects of individual health care, public health care and pharmaceutical activity, for health damage caused while performing health- related activities. Individual or public health care subjects may also have other duties, provided they do not contradict this and other laws, as well as their founding documents. Part IV Fundamentals of Health Activity Management Chapter 1 Ways and Means of Health Support Article
71. The Use of State Regulatory Subsidies for Health Activity Regulation Health relations shall be regulated through application of economic means regulated by laws and other legal acts: 1) taxes; 2) mandatory health insurance funds; 3) voluntary health insurance funds; 4) accident and occupational disease insurance funds; 5) other types of insurance fees; 6) special-purpose budget subsidies; 7) soft loans; 8) pricing policy; 9) licenses; 10) economic sanctions for violations against health activity laws and other legal acts; 11) other economic measures. Article
72. The use of Special-Purpose Budgetary Subsidies for the Support of Health Activities The priorities of distribution of special-purpose budgetary subsidies for support of health activities shall be as follows: 1) ensuring of mandatory level of health activities; 2) acquisition of expensive medical technologies and equipment, and its introduction into state individual and public health care institutions and state pharmacies; 3) elimination of negative consequences for public health, resulting from extraordinary situations (epidemics, natural disasters, ecological catastrophes); 4) other individual and public health needs established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall set the specific objects of subsidies. Article
73. Application of Soft Loans Interest on obtained loans shall be paid out of state or municipal budgets, in accordance with the order established by the Government, to legal and natural persons who are clients of required state or municipal health programs and have approved them in accordance with the established order and to state medicine supply enterprises that have received bank loans for the implementation of such programs or the supply of medicines of the indispensable assortment and other articles of medicinal purpose to Lithuania. Article
74. Order of Fixing the Prices and Tariffs on the Measures and Services of Required Level of Health Activities The basic prices and tariffs on measures and services of required level of health activities shall be approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or, upon its authorisation, the Ministry of Health. It shall fix them to be uniform throughout the country, upon co-ordinating them with the State Price and Competition Service, the State Patients Fund, State Public Health Care Services, as well as other interested subjects of health activities. In case the Ministry of Health does not agree with the established prices, in the month prior to the end of the current budgetary year, they shall be indexed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, at least once a quarter, should the quarterly inflation rate exceed 10 per cent. Article
75. Compensation of Costs of Measures and Services of Required Level of Health Activities to the Population Individual health care and services shall be provided free of charge to the citizens of Lithuania and persons without citizenship permanently residing in Lithuania, according to basic prices fixed for the indispensable diagnostic measures and medicines and other articles of medicinal purpose of indispensable assortment. The differences between the basic costs of individual health care, supported by the state or municipalities, shall be covered in accordance with the order established by Law, from the required health insurance funds. Article
76. Compensation of Costs of Other Means and Services of Health Activities Required from Required Health Insurance Funds The order of compensation of costs from the required health insurance funds, to persons to whom the health care and services supported by the state, are not applied, in accordance with Articles 18 and 19 of the present law, shall be established by the laws and other legal acts. Article
77. Encouragement of Professional Improvement of Health Care Specialists The costs of raising qualifications or requalification of medical specialists in individual and public health care institution and services of State or municipality shall be compensated from the state and municipal budgets, in accordance with the order and conditions established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, provided other laws do not establish compensation for these costs from other sources. The costs of qualification improvement and requalification of pharmaceutical enterprise specialists shall be covered from the funds of these enterprises. Article
78. Liability Insurance of Enterprises and Institutions Accredited for Individual Health Care for the Damage Caused to Individuals' Health in the Course of Individual Health Care Enterprises and institutions accredited to provide individual health care must obtain liability insurance for damages caused to individuals', health in the course of individual health care treatment. The provisions and order of concluding the required insurance agreements, the sources of required insurance and the order of utilisation of these funds by enterprises and institutions accredited to provide individual health care, liability for damages caused, shall be established by the Law on Insurance, other laws and legal acts. Article
79. Support to Health Care Establishments, for Health Care Program Implementation and Public Health Care The order of support to individual and public health care institutions shall be established by the Law on Charity and Sponsorship. The costs of individual and public health care with respect to groups of the population whose health is strongly influenced by the health risk factors, except in cases where the risk factors arise from the individual's harmful habits may be covered from state or municipal health program funds. Such population groups shall be identified by the Ministry of Health. Article
80. Support of Programs of Public Organisations Protecting Public Health Interests The resources of the State Health Fund and the health funds of municipal state funds, enterprises, establishments, organisations, religious establishments and other legal or natural persons may be utilised for the support of action programs of public organisations, who protect public health interests, in the established order. The conditions and order of the support of these funds shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
81. Restrictions on Advertising of Goods and Services Harmful to Health The advertising of alcohol and tobacco products and of other goods and services having a negative effect on health shall be prohibited in the Republic of Lithuania. The procedure for the prohibition or restriction of the advertising of such goods and services shall be prescribed by the laws and other legal acts. Article
82. Application of Economic Sanctions Economic sanctions may be applied to enterprises upon disclosing violations of legal acts regulating health activities or when legitimate instructions of state inspectorates, state agencies controlling public health care, pharmaceutical activities, quality control of medicines and medicinal substances are not complied with. economic sanctions may also be applied to enterprises when there are cases of concealment of accidents at work, occupational diseases, occupational poisonings, hospital infections or contagious diseases. The procedure for the application of sanctions in cases referred to in this Article, their collection and appealing against as well as the rate of sanctions shall be set by laws. Chapter 2 Management Functions of Individual Health Care, Public Health Care, Pharmaceutical Activities and other Health Activities Article
83. Restrictions on Making Available to the Public of Information Concerning the Health of an Individual The availability of information on the health of an individual may be restricted only in cases provided by laws when such information represents a secret of individual's health ( medical secret). The criteria of a secret of individual's health (medical secret) shall be established by laws. It shall be prohibited to announce information concerning individual's health through the mass media without his/ her written consent. Protection of information on the health of an individual stored in computers must ensure its confidentiality. The requirements for the protection of confidentiality of information concerning individuals' health, which is stored in computers belonging to subjects of health activities shall be set by the Ministry of Health. Persons who violate confidentiality of such information shall be liable under the laws. Article
84. Public Health Information and its Monitoring Information concerning public health must be available to the public without restrictions and it may not be considered the State secret. The system of public health monitoring shall be established in the Republic of Lithuania for the observation of public health, physical, chemical and biological factors of health, health care requirements and resources, accessibility and adequacy of health care , and registering of information on these issues. The monitoring of public health shall be conducted by the ministries, other state-run institutions, municipalities, enterprises and health care facilities within the scope of their competence. The public monitoring of public health shall be conducted by the State Public Health Care Service. The content, structure, charges for public health monitoring, the procedure for its conducting and the procedure for making the monitoring data available to the public , as well as the scope of competence of the subjects of public health monitoring shall be established by the laws and regulations. Article
85. Expert Examination of Public Health Public health expert examination shall be carried out for the purpose of assessment of the data of the public health monitoring. Such expert examination shall be carried out by the ministries , other governmental institutions,municipalities, enterprises and health care institutions within the scope of their competence. The state public health expert examination shall be carried out and the conclusions shall be presented by the Ministry of Health and the State Public Health Care Service as well as other legal persons authorised by the Government. The fundamentals and content of public health expert examination, the procedure for its financing, conduct and making available to the public of its findings, charges, and competence of the subjects of public health expert examination shall be established by the laws and other legal acts. Article
86. Planning of Health Activities Programme planning shall form the basis for the planning of health activities in the Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania shall approve, on the proposal of the Government, the objectives of health activities, the indices of health level to be achieved on the national scale and the Health Programme of Lithuania for the period of at least 10 years. The structure of the Lithuanian Health Programme as well as the procedure for its preparation, financing, implementation, and control shall be governed by the regulations approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. For the fulfilment of the tasks defined in the Health Programme, the Government, ministries, other government institutions, and municipalities shall prepare relevant government, sector or municipal comprehensive or special-purpose programmes, or shall provide for the measures for the implementation of these tasks in other social and economic development programmes. The procedure for the preparation, approval, financing, implementation and supervision of the health programmes shall be governed by the regulations approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
87. Standardisation of Health Care and Pharmaceutical Activities Conditions for the implementation of individual and public health care and the quality of medicines must be in conformity with the requirements set by the standardisation normative documents of the Republic of Lithuania. Such documents shall be prepared by the institutions of the health care system and shall be approved by the Ministry of Health or the Lithuanian standardisation service under the Ministry of Economics. In such cases where the quality of health care is not regulated by standardisation documents, the requirements set for the health care conditions may be legalised by the acts issued by the Ministry of Health. Legal and natural persons who do not meet the requirements set by the standardisation normative documents shall be liable under the laws. Article
88. Accrediting of Legal and Natural Persons for Health Activities The right to engage in health activities shall be granted to persons who have received special training and licences in accordance with the procedure prescribed by this Law, other laws and legal acts. The right to provide specific health care services shall be granted to persons who have been issued certificate ( a document confirming the right to render specific services) in the manner prescribed by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania. The right to engage in health activities shall be granted to legal persons and enterprises without the right of a legal person that have received permit to engage in such activities in the manner prescribed by this Law, other laws and legal acts. Individual or public health care licences, certificates and permits shall be issued or revoked by the State Service of Accrediting for Health Care under the Ministry of Health. The procedure for the issue, registration and revocation of licences, certificates and permits shall be regulated by this Law, other laws and legal cats. A licence to engage in health activities shall state the type of an institution, financing sources, profit distribution, and the procedure for furnishing information about its activities to the public. Permits (licences) and certificates shall be issued on the basis of the structure of the types of health activities established by this Law. The disputes concerning the issuing, registration and revocation of licences, certificates and permits shall be settled in court. Health activities carried out by unaccredited natural persons and enterprises without the rights of a legal person shall be illegal. Natural and legal persons who engage in illegal health activities shall be liable under the laws. Professional organisations of medical and pharmaceutical employees may participate in the accrediting activities of health care facilities and pharmaceutical enterprises, and their employees according to the procedure established by this Law and other legal acts. Article
89. Control over the Implementation of Necessary Conditions of Individual Health Care Administration of every facility of individual health care must conduct a local medical audit of the adequacy and accessibility of individual health care. The procedure for the local medical audit shall be established by the Ministry of Health. A patient willing to be sure in the adequacy of medical service rendered to him, with the exception of cases of first aid, shall have the right to apply to a physician selected by him, who, at the written request of the patient, may agree to carry out individual medical audit. The conditions, content and procedure of the individual medical audit, as well as other conditions shall be established by laws and other legal acts. State medical audit shall be conducted by the State Medical Audit Inspectorate under the Ministry of Health and the State Patients' Fund. The content of the state medical audit and the procedure thereof shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
90. Organising of Scientific Research into Health Activities The criteria for the applied and fundamental bio-medical research shall be determined by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the Lithuanian Scientific Board. The priorities of the applied bio-medical and public health research shall be identified, ordered, financed and controlled by the Ministry of Health. The priorities of the fundamental bio-medical and public health research shall be identified, ordered, financed and controlled by the Lithuanian Scientific Board. It shall be prohibited to conduct bio-medical research without the approval of the Lithuanian Committee for Medical Ethics. The requirements set for the ethics of biomedical research and the procedure for their control shall be established by the Law on Ethics of Bio-medical Research. Research into health activities shall be conducted pursuant to the agreements concluded in the manner prescribed by the Civil Code. Article
91. Organising of Training and Qualifications Improvement of Health Care and Pharmaceutical Specialists The Ministry of Health and professional organisations of health care specialists shall be concerned within the scope of their competence with the training and qualifications improvement of health care and pharmaceutical specialists. A register of health care and pharmaceutical specialists shall be established for the registration of health care and pharmaceutical specialists, the manager of which shall be the Ministry of Health. The procedure for the qualifications improvement of individual and public health care specialists and of pharmaceutical specialists shall be established by the Ministry of Health upon co-ordination with the professional organisations of health care and pharmaceutical specialists. Article
92. Evaluation of Health Care Technologies The subjects of individual and public health care shall be prohibited from applying the unevaluated technologies of individual and public health care, with the exception of cases provided by this Law. The procedure for such evaluation shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. So that the acquisition of expensive individual or public health care technologies out of the state budget or municipal budgets would be justified, the state-run or municipal health care institutions must provide economic and social grounds for the acquisition of such technologies to the State Medical Audit Inspectorate under the Ministry of Health. The cost limits of such technologies shall be set by the Ministry of Health. Article
93. Procedure for the Application of Individual and Public Health Care Technologies Only the medicines, prophylactic, diagnostic and treatment methods, medical equipment and instruments that are duly registered in the Republic of Lithuania may be applied for individual or public health care. Medicines that are not registered in the Republic of Lithuania may be used only if there are documents evidencing their registration in foreign countries, as well as on other grounds provided by this and other laws. Such medicines shall be used as prescribed by the Ministry of Health. The procedure for the evaluation and registration of individual and public health care technologies shall be established by this and other laws and legal acts. Chapter 3 Financing of Health Activities Article
94. The Base Amount of Financing of the LNHS Activities The base amount of the financing of the LNHS activities including the funds of state budget and municipal budgets and the funds of the compulsory health insurance funds must, according to the calculation methods prescribed by the Government, account for 5 % of the value of the GDP each year. Article
95. The Grounds for the Financing of Executive Bodies of the LNHS Activities The executive bodies of the LNHS activities shall be financed on the following bases: 1) documents certifying the accrediting of legal persons or enterprises without the rights of legal persons, for individual or public health care activities; 2) conclusion of contracts concerning health activities; 3) compulsory liability insurance contract for damage caused to individual's health while providing individual health care, entered into between the enterprises and institutions accredited for individual health care. The basis for the financing of works performed on the compulsory public health care level shall be the conditions referred to in items 1 and 2 of part 1 of this Article. Article
96. Sources of Financing of the Facilities Engaged in Health Activities The state-run or municipal facilities of individual and public health care accredited for certain types of health activities shall be financed from the following sources: 1) funds of the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania and municipal budgets; 2) health insurance funds; 3) funds of the insurance against accidents; 4) resources of Health Funds; 5) income received from paid health care and paid services; 6) interest on the non-budgetary funds of individual and public health care facilities, kept in banks. The procedure for the financing of state-run and municipal facilities of individual and public health care , state-owned enterprises accredited for certain types of health activities from the funds of state budget and municipal budgets shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The private subjects accredited for health activities shall be financed from the following sources: 1) health insurance funds; 2) funds of the insurance against accidents; 3) income received from paid health care and paid services; 4) interest on the funds of these facilities kept in banks; 5) resources of health funds of enterprises, institutions, organisations, confessions, and of other legal and natural persons. Subsidies from the state budget and municipal budgets may be allocated to private persons and facilities accredited for the individual and public health care, for the purpose of ensuring required level of works and services, accordance with the procedure established by the Government or a local authority. Resources of the State Health Fund and Municipal Health Funds may be allocated for the implementation of health programmes. Article
97. Financial Activities of State-run and Municipal Health Care Facilities State-run and municipal health care facilities shall independently determine their cost structure other than labour costs. The rates of labour costs shall be approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The terms of the payment of salaries for state-run and municipal individual and public health care facilities without exceeding the established norms shall be set forth in the Law on Collective Disputes and Collective Agreements. Article
98. Procedure for Financing of Public Health Monitoring and Public Health Expert Examination The enterprises whose business or other activities make a harmful effect on health and have an adverse effect on living and working environment must incur the costs of monitoring of such impact (health care monitoring) and public health expert examination, which are carried out by the State Health Care Service under the Ministry of Health and its subdivisions. The enterprises the business activities of which or any other activities cause harm to human health and the quality of living and working environment shall be determined by the State Hygiene Inspectorate at the State Public Health Care Service. Article
99. Financing of Scientific Research into Health Activities The funds of the state budget allocated for health care may also be applied for the financing of applied research into health activities. Budgetary funds allocated for science and technical progress shall be applied for the financing of scientific fundamental research into health activities. Article
100. The State Health Fund The State Health Fund shall be established for the accumulation of resources for the financing of government health programmes and for the support of the programmes of activities of non-government organisations that protect public health interests. The State Health Fund shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The sources of the funds of the State Health Fund shall consist of: 1) the share of state budget subsidies, set by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, allocated for the government programmes of social and economic development; 2) the share of allocations of insurance agencies to the preventive fund, established by the Council of Insurance Affairs; 3) share of excise duties on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products as well as on ethyl petrol transferred to the Fund from the cumulative account of the State Tax Inspectorate, prescribed by the laws; 4) set portion of the return on utilisation of temporarily idle funds of the insurers who pay state social insurance contributions; 5) voluntary contributions made by natural and legal persons; 6) interest on the resources of the Fund deposited in banks; 7) 50 % of funds received from the fines and economic sanctions imposed for the violation of laws and other legal acts regulating health activities; and 8) miscellaneous funds received by lawful means. Article
101. Municipal Health Funds Municipal Health Funds shall be established for the purpose of accumulation of resources for the financing of public health care programmes and for the support of the programmes of activities of non-government organisations protecting the public health interests. Municipal Health Funds shall be established and their budget of expenditures shall be approved by Municipality Council. Model statutes of the Municipal Health Funds shall be approved by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. The sources of the funds of the Municipal Health Funds shall include: 1) subsidies from local budgets; 2) voluntary contributions made by legal and natural persons; 3) interest on funds kept in the banks; 4) 20 % allocations from the resources of Municipal Nature Protection Funds; 5) part of allocations from compulsory health insurance contributions into Municipal Health Funds, prescribed by the Law on Health Insurance; and 6) other funds received by lawful means. Article
102. Health Funds of Enterprises, Institutions, Organisations, Confessions, and other Legal and Natural Persons Enterprises, institutions, organisations, confessions, other legal and natural persons shall have the right to establish Health Funds for the financing of health programmes and support of health institutions. The procedure for the formation and liquidation of these Health Funds as well as the application of their resources shall be set forth in their statutes that shall be approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The budget of expenditures of this Fund shall be approved by its founder (founders). The resources of the Health Funds of enterprises, institutions, organisations, confessions and other legal and natural persons shall consist of: 1) funds of legal and natural persons and voluntary contributions made by them; 2) interest on funds kept in the banks; and 3) other funds received by lawful means; Article
103. Financing of Pharmaceutical Activities The sources of financing of pharmaceutical activities shall include: 1) proceeds from medicines and other goods meant for medical purposes sold in the Republic of Lithuania; 2) proceeds from the medicines and other goods meant for medical purposes produced in the Republic of Lithuania and sold abroad; 3) proceeds from the paid pharmaceutical services established by this law; and 4) other funds established by laws. Part V Competence of the Managing Bodies of the LNHS Chapter 1 Competence of the State Managing Bodies of the LNHS Article
104. Basic Powers of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in Managing Health Activities The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall manage and regulate health activities by: 1) approving and ensuring required level of health activities; 2) approving and ensuring the implementation of government health programmes; 3) determining the competence of ministries and government institutions in matters of health activities; 4) ensuring co-ordination of intersector health activities on government level; 5) preparing and submitting draft legislation and other regulations to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania; 6) preparing and adopting legal acts concerning other issues of regulation of health activities that are within the scope of their competence; 7) establishing government agencies and state inspectorates carrying out health activities and discharging the functions of their founder; 8) taking care that the Lithuanian state borders and its territory be protected from the bringing in and spreading of contagious diseases; and 9) discharging other functions of the management of health activities assigned to the Government by the Constitution, this Law and other laws of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
105. Basic Powers of the Ministry of Health in Managing Health Activities The Ministry of Health shall: - determine the scope of required level of health activities and submit it to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for approval; -study the state of health of the population and its future perspectives, contribute to the identification of objectives of health activities and the indicators of health level aimed at by the government and the Lithuanian health programme for their achievement; - contribute to the preparation of government health programmes; - on the instructions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and in conjunction with the municipalities, identify the basic trends of development of primary health care; - take part in the activities of accrediting for health care and supervise the activities of private and public facilities of individual and public health care and the establishments of pharmaceutical activities; - administer other matters pertaining to individual and public health care and pharmaceutical activities; - prepare and adopt, within their scope of competence, legal acts concerning the issues of the implementation of all types of health activities specified in this Article. The Ministry of Health shall manage other matters pertaining to health activities in conjunction with other ministries in compliance with to Articles 108 and 109, and shall perform other regulatory functions provided for in this Law, other laws and the regulations of the Ministry. Article
106. General Competence of the Ministries and Government Institutions in Health Matters The ministries and government institutions shall: 1) suspend and restrict the activities of economic entities that cause harm to health and environment if the requirements prescribed by legal acts regulating health care and environmental protection are being violated; 2) make available to the public projects, plans and programmes of business and other activities which may cause harm to health; 3) inform in reasonable time the population on health risk level in the living and working environment; 4) restrict work activities that constitute potential danger to health; 5) support the improvement of educational and cultural level of the population and its supply with information with the aim to promote healthy way of life; 6) organise promotion of health through the mass media; 7) prohibit or restrict the advertising of products and consumer goods detrimental to health; 8) prohibit or restrict production of goods and rendering of services that are detrimental to health, as well as import, sale, and consumption of such goods; 9) contribute to the restoration and maintaining of the quality of the environment; 10) organise the implementation of measures meant for the restoration and maintenance of the set established quality of food products and drinking water; 11) organise activities for the elimination of consequences of emergency situations that pose a threat to human health and life; 12) develop and optimise the network of state-run public health care facilities, services and state-owned pharmaceutical enterprises; 13) control how legal and natural persons observe laws on health care and comply with the health care standardisation documents; 14) submit proposals to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on how to establish liability of legal and natural persons for the violations of health care regulations and for damage caused to human health and environment by means of legislation; 15) develop scientific research and studies of health activities; and 16) develop international co-operation in the sphere of health activities. Article
107. Special Competence of other Ministries when Dealing with Issues of Health Activities The matters pertaining to the policy of the protection of patients' rights, liability for hazard and harm to health shall be administered by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice within the scope of their competence. The matters pertaining to foreign humanitarian relief and technical assistance to health system shall be managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health. The matters pertaining to the prevention of traffic accidents and harm done to health by reason of criminal activities shall be managed by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The matters pertaining to individual health care in the penitentiary sphere shall be managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Health within the scope of their competence. The matters pertaining to individual health care of the officers of internal affairs and police, as well as other persons equated with them shall be managed by the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Health within the scope of their competence. The matters concerning health insurance policy, assessment of harm to health, medical and social examination, integration of social services and social care into the health care system and safety at work shall be managed by the Ministry of Social Security and Labour and the Ministry of Health within the scope of their competence. The matters concerning the liability insurance of institutions and enterprises accredited for the individual health care, for harm done to health when providing health care, shall be managed by the Ministry of Finances and the Ministry of Health. The matters concerning the maintenance of the environment suitable for human health shall be managed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Health. The matters concerning the supply of the population with food products of good nutritional and