Physiotherapy is a discipline of clinical medicine, using its own diagnostic and therapeutic methods, including the treatment of movement and physical stimuli. The new legal regulations resulting from the Act of 25 September 2015 on the Profession of Physiotherapy have granted a special professional status to this group of specialists, what results from the fact that it is recognized as an independent medical profession. It should be noted, however, that the introduced law, although expected for many years, did not stabilize the legal situation of this professional group until the end. There are still doubts of a juridical nature which make it difficult to provide unambiguous answers to the basic questions regarding the legal status of physiotherapists as persons performing an independent medical profession. This publication, referring to the applicable statutory regulations and views presented in the legal doctrine, analyzes the current legal status, indicates the weaknesses of the adopted legislative solutions and avoids the changes.

For years, infectious diseases have been a significant social problem and thus a challenge for health care systems and state authorities. Outbreaks of these diseases in particular can lead to global health, social and economic crises. The nature of the threat, including the experiences resulting from the COVID-19 epidemic, justify the question of the tasks assigned to the state and its authorities in this area, both in the context of the adopted national and international regulations. The implementation of the right to health protection and the introduction of mechanisms allowing for the implementation of guarantees in the field of health safety are undoubtedly the two main goals-tasks decoded from the basic law. However, a fully effective model of counteracting infectious disease epidemics must be based on full international cooperation.

On 3 June 2016 an international conference on Current Health Law Issues in Central and Eastern Europe took place at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. The conference was organised by the Department of Administrative Law at the Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administra-tion under the honorary patronage of the European Association of Health Law (EAHL). The aim of the above-mentioned meeting was to create the platform for exchange of experiences and sharing views by researches and experts from the field of health law from post-communist countries where transformation processes caused many changes in the health system, also in the perspective of their EU memberships. The foreign research centres represented at the conference were the Masaryk University in Brno from the Czech Republic, the National Academy of Management in Kiev and the Legislation Institute of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from Ukraine, the University of Ljubljana from Slovenia, and the Kauno Kolegija University of Applied Sciences from Lithuania. Polish speakers and other participants derived, among others, from the Medical University of Lublin, the Jagiel-lonian University, the University of Rzeszów and the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.

No abstract

W dobie postępu cywilizacyjnego i związanej z nim globalizacji problem chorób zakaźnych, ich profilaktyki i zwalczania skutków pozostaje jednym z istotnych w zakresie zadań publicznych lokowanych w obszarze ochrony zdrowia. Z drugiej zaś strony specyfika i przebieg tych chorób stanowią wciąż istotne wyzwanie dla medycyny, zwłaszcza w zakresie związanym z badaniami i rozwojem, w znalezieniu takich rozwiązań chemicznych czy biologicznych, w tym leków i szczepionek, które będą skuteczne. Sektor publiczny skazany jest w tym względzie, w większości przypadków, na aktywność naukową i finansową podejmowaną przez przemysł farmaceutyczny. Ten ostatni, zwłaszcza gdy korzysta z monopolu wynikającego z uzyskanej ochrony patentowej, nie zawsze jednak jest zainteresowany kierowaniem swojej oferty do rynków słabo rozwiniętych. Obszary te zaś często to źródła rozprzestrzeniających się epidemii. Stąd wysiłki organizacji międzynarodowych, a w ślad za nimi także Unii Europejskiej, by stworzyć instrumenty prawne, takie jak przymusowa licencja eksportowa, pozwalające przeciwdziałać tym niekorzystnym zjawiskom. Wydaje się jednak, że wprowadzenie legislacyjnej formuły nie jest wystarczające dla osiągniecia oczekiwanych rezultatów bez odpowiedniego wsparcia politycznego, ekonomicznego i społecznego.