Patient privacy is protected by law, so where did the media get Sebija Izetbegović's medical findings and sick leave information?

By Rasim Belko

Patient privacy in the Federation of BiH entity is protected by law, regardless of whether the patient is a public figure or a citizen who does not hold a public office.

The Law on Patients' Rights, Obligations, and Responsibilities states: “A partnership is based on mutual trust and respect between the patient and the healthcare institution, private practice, or healthcare professional or associate, at all levels of healthcare, and the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of the partners in this relationship”.

Article 6 of the same Law states: “Through this law and regulations adopted based on this law, every patient is guaranteed the following rights: access to healthcare, including the right to emergency medical assistance, information, notification and participation in the treatment process, free choice, self-determination and consent, including the protection of the rights of a patient unable to give consent, confidentiality of information and privacy, secrecy of data, personal dignity, prevention and alleviation of suffering and pain, respect for patient's time, access to medical records…”

Therefore, information about each patient's health must remain confidential between the doctor/associate and the patient themselves; their privacy, data secrecy, and dignity must be respected.

However, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, politics and the media that follow it show that the norms of respecting legal regulations, as well as common sense behavior, have long since disappeared.

Sebija Izetbegović is a public figure, and her actions, regardless of her position, are subject to public criticism and commentary. And because of this, she belongs to the group of public figures whose work has been most criticized and commented on by the media, especially in FBiH, over the last half-decade.

And it is not a problem when someone claims that a public figure, whoever they may be, is not doing a good job; the problem is when, for political purposes, the boundary of acceptable media intrusion into privacy is crossed, as well as journalistic norms which have long been lowered to a minimum.

But it is a problem when we read details from Sebija Izetbegović's medical records in the media. And all with an original copy of the doctor's diagnosis. In addition, the public in Bosnia and Herzegovina receives information that on a certain day she visited a health center and took sick leave.

The Law on Patients' Rights unequivocally prohibits this, and there is no situation where it is permissible to share information about a patient's condition, even in criminal proceedings. Nevertheless, in the political processes introduced by the “pro-European” authorities in BiH, it is evident that those ordering media publications of medical findings are consciously violating the rules of confidentiality of patient data.

Now I ask all of us – if we find ourselves targeted by the Sarajevo trio, does that mean we will be followed closely, that our homes, movements, and even medical records will be monitored? Whether it is the service or regime media doing this, perhaps Elmedin Konaković, a minister serving his journalists who closely follow the work of intelligence services, will reveal it to us one day.

The new Minister of Health in Sarajevo Canton, Enis Hasanović, has just taken office. And the issue of a patient's findings being available to the media should be his first problem to solve. Otherwise, we will have to wear masks when we go to the doctor.

We expect responsibility from the Government of the Federation, and specifically from the relevant minister Nediljko Rimac, because medical findings from KCUS should not have become public, and the management board that is supposed to dismiss Sebija Izetbegović was appointed by the FBiH Government. Minister Rimac (HDZ 1990) did not react even to the questionable procedure during Sebija Izetbegović's dismissal, so it is difficult to expect him to react in this case, although he is the most qualified to do so.

Politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina has long since slipped beyond all civilizational, democratic, and moral norms. And this must stop; otherwise, we will reach a situation where anyone who is not favored by the regime is subjected to a frontal attack on their personality and dignity.

And that is worse than North Korea; there they arrest, here they want to both arrest and humiliate their opponents.