Page 132 - Human Rights

Faculty of Nursing
Adult care Nursing Department

In contrast, the introduction of competitive market rules in the healthcare sector as a mechanism

of efficiency implies that other realities, such as respect for freedom of choice in health facilities

or guaranteeing the right of universal access to public services, should also be safeguarded.

Thus, many countries have opted to create patient charters.

In fact, patient charters should be considered the normative benchmark of the vast array of rights

devoted to the patient and other users of the health system.

These rights include rights both as a person and as a sick patient. In other words, the principles,
values, and rights enshrined in these charters should cover the generality of patients but also

specific populations such as children, pregnant women, disabled individuals, and elderly people,

who constitute populations that should be accorded special approaches so that their specific

characteristics can be truly guarded.

Moreover, promoting intense public debates on this theme contributes to a more just and

equitable society (CIOMS 1997)

4.6 Democracy and Basic Rights

The enjoyment of basic rights by citizens is largely dependent on the evolution of many societies into
liberal democracies, in which democracy and human rights have evolved concurrently.

Therefore, democratic structure is a prerequisite for certain rights to be enjoyed by all citizens as a
general principle of the rule of law, regarding individual self-determination, and the exercise of personal
privacy and nondiscrimination.

In liberal democracies, credibility and legitimacy are necessary conditions for political actions to be
ethically and socially justifiable.

Therefore, adequate means must be found for political decisions to have the necessary substantive, and
not merely formal, legitimacy.
This legitimacy implies respect for the will of the people through adequate representation.

121 Academic Year 2025/2026