[Confidentiality and law in Lebanon]. / Le secret médical fait-il loi au Liban?

Everyone is entitled to one's privacy and cannot be denied this right. Illness affects human beings, exposing them to outside influences. The physician is given access to the patient's privacy, only because of his professional status. The relation between the patient and his physician is based on full trust. Confidentiality is a must that should be protected by law. The related Lebanese law includes incoherence, subject to abuse. The physician must protect the interests of his patient without misleading insurance companies. Physicians, hospitals, insurance companies and all health organisms should talk and work together for a global health policy to preserve confidentiality, and the interests of all actors. A campaign should be launched to promote a better understanding of the concept of confidentiality in order to finally bring about its enforcement in Lebanon.