Consolidated version valid as of 16 December 2014
REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW ON PUBLIC HEALTH MONITORING
3 July 2002 No IX-1023
Vilnius
(As last amended on 9 December 2014 – No XII-1402)
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Objective, purpose and scope of the Law
1. Public health monitoring shall mean the targeted and systematic collection, accumulation, processing, storage, analysis and interpretation of data related to the public health status and public health risk factors affecting it.
2. The Law shall regulate relations arising in the course of collection, accumulation, processing, storage, analysis and dissemination of data related to public health and health risk factors affecting it.
3. Public health risk factors shall mean natural and man-made factors as well as living and behavioural habits which entail risk to the health of the whole population or its individual groups.
Article 2. Definitions
1. Public health monitoring shall mean the targeted monitoring, analysis and assessment of the public health status and public health risk factors affecting it.
2. Public health data shall mean any public health-related information.
3. Public health risk factors shall mean factors (lifestyle habits, inherited characteristics, environmental factors) whose links to health disorders are based on scientific evidence.
4. National Public Health-related Data Pool shall mean the entirety of the data of national public health monitoring databases and registers which are administered in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts.
5. National public health monitoring shall mean public health monitoring carried out at national level throughout the territory of the Republic of Lithuania.
6. Municipal public health monitoring shall mean public health monitoring carried out at municipal level throughout the territory of a municipality.
7. Repealed as of 1 July 2011.
CHAPTER II
PUBLIC HEALTH MONITORING
Article 3. Objectives of public health monitoring
Main objectives of public health monitoring shall be as follows:
1) continuous monitoring and analysis of public health, factors affecting it and trends in their changes;
2) provision of information to state institutions and the public about the public health status and reasons for its changes, where such information is necessary to take decisions regarding economic development, social process, preventive medicine, health system management or for scientific and other purposes;
3) formation of the common system of public health-related data.
Article 4. Entities carrying out public health monitoring
Entities carrying out public health monitoring shall be state, municipal and research institutions as well as other legal and natural persons administering public health-related data in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law and other legal acts.
Article 5. Public health monitoring system
1. The public health monitoring system shall comprise national and municipal public health monitoring procedures resulting in the accumulation and analysis of data on changes in the health status of the population and its different groups as well as changes in health-affecting factors at local, regional and national levels.
2. The national public health monitoring system shall consist of the data collected by public health care institutions, registers' data, monitoring data or public health-related data of other state institutions.
Article 6. Objects of public health monitoring
When carrying out public health monitoring, the following shall be monitored, assessed and analysed:
1) data on the health status of the population and its groups as well as on changes therein;
2) physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic factors, other physical environment factors and their relationship with health;
3) social, economic, psychosocial factors and their relationship with health;
4) lifestyle and its relationship with health;
5) health care system evolution;
6) other objects provided for in a public health monitoring programme.
CHAPTER III
IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH MONITORING
Article 7. Public health monitoring programme
1. A national public health monitoring programme shall be drawn up by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with other state institutions carrying out national public health monitoring. This programme shall be approved by the Government.
2. Monitoring programmes in individual fields of public health, which constitute a national public health monitoring programme, shall be drawn up and approved by the Ministry of Health and other state institutions.
3. Municipal institutions shall lay down public health monitoring in a municipal strategic development plan and/or a municipal strategic action plan.
4. Repealed as of 1 July 2011.
5. Repealed as of 1 October 2014.
Article 8. Public health monitoring regulations
1. The Public Health Monitoring Regulations shall lay down a procedure for drawing up and implementing public health monitoring programmes and carrying out public health monitoring.
2. The National Public Health Monitoring Regulations and the General Municipal Public Health Monitoring Regulations shall be drawn up by the Ministry of Health and approved by the Government or an institution authorised by it.
3. All public health monitoring entities must act in compliance with the Public Health Monitoring Regulations.
Article 9. Organisation of national public health monitoring
1. National public health monitoring shall be carried out throughout the territory of the Republic of Lithuania.
2. The Ministry of Health or a body authorised by it shall organise national public health monitoring and perform the following functions:
1) in conjunction with other monitoring entities and state institutions responsible for monitoring of individual fields of public health, organise national public health monitoring and provide methodical guidance on the implementation of the programme;
2) design information systems of national public health monitoring and carry out complex analysis of national and municipal monitoring data on the public health status;
3) accumulate, codify and store national public health monitoring data in the National Public Health Monitoring Data Pool;
4) repealed as of 1 October 2014;
5) prepare and approve methodologies for fixing rates for the collection, accumulation and processing of national public health monitoring-related information;
6) within its remit, perform other functions related to national public health monitoring.
3. Monitoring programmes in individual public health fields shall be harmonised, methodological guidance shall be provided to and their implementation shall be coordinated by the Ministry of Health or a state institution authorised by it.
4. Repealed as of 1 July 2007.
Article 10. Municipal public health monitoring
1. Municipal public health monitoring shall be carried out within the areas assigned to them in seeking to receive detailed information concerning the public health status of the municipality area and, based upon objective information, to plan and implement local prevention measures with respect to public health.
2. Municipal institutions shall organise municipal public health monitoring in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Ministry of Health and perform the following functions:
1) accumulate data on the municipal community's health status and changes therein, evaluate and analyse changes in the said data;
2) monitor and analyse health-affecting environmental factors;
3) analyse public health-affecting social and economic factors;
4) repealed as of 01/07/2011;
5) provide information to the public, state and municipal institutions, bodies and enterprises;
6) use data to evaluate and justify management decisions.
Article 11. Repealed as of 1 January 2014.
Article 12. Financing of public health monitoring
1. National public health monitoring shall be financed with state budget funds.
2. Municipal public health monitoring shall be financed with state budget, municipal budget funds, funds of the special programme for municipal public health support and other legally acquired funds.
3. Repealed as of 1 July 2011.
4. Public health monitoring procedures may be financed with the funds specifically designated for this purpose by international organisations and programmes, special funds and sponsors.
Article 13. Control of public health monitoring
Carrying-out of national and municipal public health monitoring procedures, monitoring of individual public health fields, quality of their data and information as well as their compliance with legal acts shall be controlled by the Ministry of Health or an institution authorised by it.
Article 14. Ensuring of public health monitoring data quality
In order to ensure public health monitoring data quality, the following shall be carried out:
1) creation and implementation of a national data quality control system;
2) statutory certification and accreditation of public health laboratories;
3) standardisation of methods, methodologies, measures and rules for implementation of monitoring;
4) participation in international programmes for certification of monitoring and utilised methodology attestation programmes.
Article 15. Standardisation of public health monitoring information
1. Standardised public health monitoring data shall be furnished to the National Public Health Monitoring Data Pool.
2. The procedure for standardising public health monitoring data shall be laid down by the Public Health Monitoring Regulations.
Article 16. Accumulation and storage of public health monitoring data
1. In the Republic of Lithuania public health monitoring data shall be collected, accumulated, analysed and utilised in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law, other laws and legal acts.
2. State and municipal institutions, organisations, other legal and natural persons carrying out national and municipal public health monitoring procedures as well as monitoring of individual public health fields shall furnish information to the National Public Health Monitoring Data Pool in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Public Health Monitoring Regulations.
3. A provider of public health monitoring data and other information shall be liable for the reliability thereof.
4. Public health monitoring data shall be collected, accumulated and stored in the National Public Health Monitoring Data Pool.
5. The National Public Health Monitoring Data Pool shall be administered by a body authorised by the Ministry of Health and its regulations shall be approved by the Ministry of Health.
6. The procedure for transmitting public health monitoring data to state archives shall be laid down by the Lithuanian Archives Department.
Article 17. Provision of public health monitoring data
1. The following shall be entitled to obtain, free of charge, public health monitoring data and factsheets:
1) state and municipal institutions;
2) providers of public health monitoring data;
3) the mass media.
2. Public health monitoring data and factsheets shall be transmitted to legal and natural persons under a data transmission contract in the format defined by the Ministry of Health.
3. A contract shall indicate the purpose of public health data transmission, the procedure for utilising and paying for the data.
4. The extent and cost of paid public health monitoring data shall be determined by managers of such data.
5. Users of public health monitoring data shall have the right to utilise the data obtained under the contracts specified in paragraph 2 of this Article only for the purposes provided for in the said contracts.
6. Public health monitoring data shall be provided to other states and international organisations according to the procedure established by law, Government resolutions and international treaties.
Article 18. Administration and protection of personal data contained in public health data
The Ministry of Health and institutions authorised by it shall have the right to administer for statistical purposes the personal number, special personal health-related data in registers and state information systems. After being utilised, the data must be altered immediately in a manner which makes it impossible to identify the data subject. Personal data contained in public health-related data shall be administered in compliance with the requirements of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Legal Protection of Personal Data.
Chapter IV. Repealed as of 1 July 2007.
CHAPTER V. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 20. Entry into force of the Law
This Law, except for Article 21, shall enter into force as of 1 January 2003.
Article 21. Proposal to the Government
By 31 December 2002, the Government and other institutions shall draft and approve legal acts necessary for the implementation of this Law.
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC VALDAS ADAMKUS