Background. in Poland, the number of parents or caregivers, mainly declaring concern about the occurrence of vaccine injuries, refusing to subject people under the age of 19 to mandatory vaccinations has increased from 3,437 in 2010 to 30,089 in 2017. Material and methods. Legal regulations concerning vaccinations and legal literature in Poland, as well as judicial decisions concerning cases of evasion of mandatory vaccinations were reviewed. Results. the Constitution of the Republic of Poland obliges public authorities to fight epidemic diseases. In judicial decisions, a connection between preventive vaccinations and safety and public health protection is taken for granted-mass vaccinations allow for protection of all people, who would be exposed to infectious diseases without them. Statutory obligation to submit to mandatory vaccinations exists in the law and is directly enforceable; only in the case of refusal, the State Poviat Sanitary Inspectorate (PPIS), as creditor of the obligation, may demand its implementation and indicate an effective enforcement measure; however, it is the voivode who is authorized to conduct enforcement proceedings regarding the non-pecuniary obligation. the imposed fine is a measure leading to fulfilment of the obligation of vaccination, not a penalty for its non-performance. Conclusions. a statutory obligation to submit to protective vaccinations does not constitute a violation of constitutionally guaranteed human freedoms. as a person authorized by a specific law in the form of the Act on Preventing and Combating Infections and Infectious Diseases in Humans, this obligation overcomes the individual's freedom to exercise the right to refuse to undergo health benefits resulting from general regulations, such as the Act on Patients' Rights and Patients' Rights Ombudsman. although the PPIS is the creditor of the statutory obligatory vaccinations, the voivode is the correct enforcement body.

the rights to life and health are basic human rights but, as life spans increase and societies age, these rights become increasingly difficult to secure. the number of people needing care, nursing, and medical treatment increases-and their expectations of quality of life rise-faster than the available financial assets and workforce. the article aims at defining the influence of digital literacy of patients and digital-based medical services availability on perspectives of fulfilling health-related needs specific for ageing societies. a variety of information and communication technologies (iCt) solutions can deliver at least temporary relief to countries suffering from these problems, assuming that the potential beneficiaries are able and willing to use such methods. it is thus worthwhile to foster digital literacy, especially among middle-aged and older people. iCt-based solutions include a variety of more or less technologically advanced, sophisticated, and easy-to-use services, many of which have been in operation and common use for decades, and are thus ripe for medical application. Such technologies can create a highly complex system of interconnected electronic tools and information systems operating on sensitive medical data that must remain confidential. these systems aim to increase patients' medical safety and maximize their quality of life, but they also pose serious threats to their privacy. Confidential data are protected by legal regulations, including the recently introduced european General Data protection Regulation (GDpR), but primary care physicians should not be discouraged by this from implementing iCt-based solutions into their practices, as they may significantly lessen their everyday workload.

A -study Design, B -Data Collection, C -Statistical analysis, D -Data interpretation, E -Manuscript preparation, F -literature search, G -Funds Collection the rapid aging of polish society brings increasing stress to bear on both informal and formal support systems. the article aims at discussing the scope of care-related challenges in ageing societies and both current and future status of systemic remedies in poland. Formal support systems, including social and medical care, are underdeveloped, understaffed, underfinanced, desynchronized, and generally unready to confront the increasing demands of the increasing number of elderly people, who typically suffer from multiple chronic and degenerative diseases that require holistic geriatric care. Such care can only be delivered by teams of specialists that include a physician specializing in geriatrics, a nurse, a physiotherapist, a psychologist, and a social worker. although demanding and seemingly expensive, this kind of approach actually cuts costs, as it not only improves health outcomes, but also prolongs the duration of functional independency of the elderly, allowing them to function in their home environment, delaying institutionalization, and lessening the pressure on long-term care facilities. as the resources of the formal support systems charged by polish law with providing health safety to the elderly are scarce, the main burden of care rests, and will continue to rest, on informal caregivers -predominantly family members. Given the deficits of both physicians and of institutions specializing in geriatric care, primary care physicians and their offices are forced to fill the gap, especially for the comparably fit elderly people dwelling in the community. Consequently, family care physicians should include activities to expand their geriatric competences into their continuous professional development schedules. SummaryISSN 1734-3402, eISSN 2449-8580 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons attribution-nonCommercial-Sharealike 4.0 international (CC bY-nC-Sa 4.0). license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). paplicki M, Susło R, Dopierała K, Drobnik J. systemic aspects of securing the health safety of the elderly. Fam Med Prim Care Rev 2018; 20(3): 267-270, doi: https://doi.

Vaccinations are a crucial preventative measure performed by primary care. Polish local self-governments should be praised for their independent determination in attempting to improve public health by requiring parents to fulfill their legal obligation to have their children receive mandatory vaccinations. However, there is an urgent need for similar general regulations encompassing the entire population of Poland if serious risks to its public health are to be avoided. The variety of approaches attempted thus far in different countries demonstrates that there is no single ideal solution for all-although, judging by the results, it seems that incentive-based solutions seem to be more efficient than the repressive ones. We thus advised that Poland implement an escalating approach: proper education of all citizens in human biology and the basics of medicine is a must, as is demonstrated by the experience of Scandinavia; this should begin even in preschool facilities. The "No Jab No Pay" approach used in Australia could easily be replicated in Poland by withdrawing the right to the relatively new child benefit from parents who do not have their children vaccinations-especially as this benefit is ultimately planned to include all children in the country. Following the examples of the Czech Republic, France, Italy, and the United States, unvaccinated children could be banned from entering sports facilities. In case of the most persistent violators, harsh measures-including financial penalties imposed by the state-should be kept in reserve, and these should be similar to the significant fines known from Italy and Germany.

Formal conflict resolutions are very familiar from media as legal trials resulting in long prison sentences or large compensation payments inevitably attract attention. in contrast, far more inconspicuous alternative dispute resolution (aDR) methods often demonstrate their great practical usefulness as conflicts between parties are not only inevitable, but can also be considered a positive phenomenon because conflict allows an unwanted situation to be changed to the benefit of all parties involved in a transaction. the second aDR thesis is that the parties on their own can resolve many, if not most, of their conflicts, but no aDR method can be effective when the parties have lost trust with each other. Mediation is probably the most popular aDR method in Poland presently as an intervention into negotiations or conflicts that are already underway. a third party, the mediator, who is accepted by all parties and does not possess any power to make an authoritative decision resolving the conflict, performs that intervention-aiding the parties to voluntarily reach a mutually acceptable solution to the conflict. Mediation is an attractive low-cost alternative to court proceedings as the parties remain in full control of the process, it is confidential, lasts short and allows conflicted parties to maintain their long-term relationship. Mediation may also limit the otherwise significant risk associated with the unpredictability of court rulings, especially in highly complicated medical malpractice-related cases. Results from any successful mediation become binding to the parties as courts legally approve the mediation agreement.