Human Rights in Patient Care: A Practitioner Guide - Georgia

Health systems can too often be places of punishment, coercion, and violations of basic rights—rather than places of treatment and care. In many cases, existing laws and tools that provide remedies are not adequately used to protect rights.This Practitioner Guide series presents practical how-to manuals for lawyers interested in taking cases around human rights in patient care. The manuals examine patient and provider rights and responsibilities, as well as procedures for protection through both the formal court system and alternative mechanisms in 10 countries.Each Practitioner Guide is country-specific, supplementing coverage of the international and regional framework with national standards and procedures in the following:ArmeniaGeorgiaKazakhstanKyrgyzstanMacedoniaMoldova (forthcoming)RomaniaRussia (forthcoming)SerbiaUkraineThis series is the first to systematically examine the application of constitutional, civil, and criminal laws; categorize them by right; and provide examples and practical tips. As such, the guides are useful for medical professionals, public health mangers, Ministries of Health and Justice personnel, patient advocacy groups, and patients themselves.Advancing Human Rights in Patient Care: The Law in Seven Transitional Countries is a compendium that supplements the practitioner guides. It provides the first comparative overview of legal norms, practice cannons, and procedures for addressing rights in health care in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Russia, and Ukraine.A Legal Fellow in Human Rights in each country is undertaking the updating of each guide and building the field of human rights in patient care through trainings and the development of materials, networks, and jurisprudence. Fellows are recent law graduates based at a local organization with expertise and an interest in expanding work in law, human rights, and patient care. To learn more about the fellowships, please visit health-rights.or

Self-medication with antibiotics in Georgian population

Background: Self-medication with antibiotics is a global phenomenon and a potential contributor to human pathogen resistance to antibiotics. It involves obtaining medication without a prescription, taking medicines based on the advice of friends and relatives, or previous treatment experience. Self-medication is common in both developed and developing countries; however, the prevalence of self-medication is higher in developing countries. The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of antimicrobial self-medication in Georgia and its potential to influence the overall situation regarding antimicrobial consumption in the country.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a random sampling method and developed a self-administered questionnaire to collect the data. The survey was conducted via the Internet using the Google Forms platform.Results: The overall number of respondents was 742 adults living in Georgia. The results showed that 23.8% (n = 177) of adults had consumed antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription, and 12.7% (n = 94) confirmed the use of antibiotics by their own decision to treat minor family members. The total prevalence of self-medication was 32.6%. The data analysis revealed a correlation between factor F1 (“personal experience”) and gender (p = 0.042, F = 2.6), and between age and factor F2 (“lack of trust in medical practitioners”) (p = 0.047, F = 2.691). The correlation was stronger among young adults (aged 18–24) and senior adults (aged 60+). The correlation between the level of education and factor F2 was stronger (p = 0.00; F1 = 7.9) than with factor F1 (p = 0.04; F = 2.2).Conclusion: Self-medication is prevalent in Georgia; pharmacies are the main sources of antimicrobials. No correlation was found between factor F2, pertaining to “lack of trust in medical practitioners” and gender, between age and factor F1, linked to “personal experience.” The study uncovered a lack of knowledge about self-medication with antibiotics and emphasized the importance of public awareness campaigns and implementing effective interventions to regulate the sales of antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription

Health and well-being for all: an approach to accelerating progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in countries in the WHO European Region

Background Forty-three out of 53 of the WHO European Member States have set up political and institutional mechanisms to implement the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This includes governance and institutional mechanisms, engaging stakeholders, identifying targets and indicators, setting governmental and sectoral priorities for action and reporting progress regularly. Still, growing evidence suggests that there is room for advancing implementation of some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets at a higher pace in the WHO European Region. This article proposes the E4A approach to support WHO European Member States in their efforts to achieve the health-related SDG targets. Methods The E4A approach was developed through a 2-year, multi-stage process, starting with the endorsement of the SDG Roadmap by all WHO European Member States in 2017. This approach resulted from a mix of qualitative methods: a semi-structured desk review of existing committal documents and tools; in-country policy dialogs, interviews and reports; joint UN missions and discussion among multi-lateral organizations; consultation with an advisory group of academics and health policy experts across countries. Results The E—engage—functions as the driver and pace-maker; the 4 As—assess, align, accelerate and account—serve as building blocks composed of policies, processes, activities and interventions operating in continuous and synchronized action. Each of the building blocks is an essential part of the approach that can be applied across geographic and institutional levels. Conclusion While the E4A approach is being finalized, this article aims to generate debate and input to further refine and test this approach from a public health and user perspective

The role of primary health care in assessing and preventing health risk factors of adolescents in Georgia

The goal of this study was to evaluate health risk factors, specifically tobacco use and alcohol consumption among adolescents and primary health care role in health promotions activities. The quantitative survey was conducted among 11-19 years old adolescents. Overall, 1000 young people were interviewed across Georgia using a standard questionnaire in 2014. The survey sampling methodology was multi-stage probability sampling. All information was analyzed in SPSS 21 version. According to survey results 32.1% (n=256) respondents consume tobacco; 90.5% (n=698) tried alcohol at least once. The 2.5% (n=19) of respondents drink alcohol without limit and the 2.7% (n=21) - drinks frequently. According to survey results, primary health care professionals do rarely talk with young people about healthy life style. It is very essential to implement health promotion topics at primary health care level. There is a need to adopt effective measures, including launching an information campaign focusing on adolescents’ awareness that tobacco use and alcohol consumption are harmful to health. There is a need of multi-sectoral integrated approach and increased coordination between different government agencies and international and national programs to improve the adolescent health