CHAPTER V. HEALTHCARE PROTOCOL (MEDICAL EXAMINATION)

1. By the Government Decree 1793/2019 (XII. 23.) on the strategic correlations of the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme the Government has accepted the strategic courses of action of the scholarship programme, of which one of its elements was the improvement of health security. In accordance with this – and based on the Government Decree 16/2021 (I.22.) on the medical examination of students entering Hungary during a state of emergency, furthermore authorized by point h) of subsection (2) of section 80 of the Higher Education Act -, the institution responsible for the management of said programme has ordered compulsory medical examination (“compulsory healthcare protocol”) for students supported by said scholarship programme, as a prerequisite of participation.

2. The healthcare provider responsible for the medical examination manages the medical data of students in accordance with the Act CLIV of 1997 on healthcare.

3. The compulsory healthcare protocol will first be introduced in the case of students whose scholarship holder status is established in the 2021/2022 Academic Year and will stay in force for upcoming academic years until ordered otherwise.

4. The scholarship holder must fulfill the obligations of the healthcare protocol pertaining to them and cooperate with the healthcare provider conducting the medical examination. The scholarship holder must request an appointment for the examination from said healthcare provider as soon as possible after entering Hungary. The scholarship holder must fulfill their obligations related to the healthcare protocol (completion of medical form, undergoing the medical examinations and taking up the required vaccinations listed in the Implementation Guide) at a healthcare provider that is on the list of providers approved by their host institution or the institution managing the scholarship programme.

5. In the case of section 3, the scholarship agreement created between the scholarship holder and their host institution must contain the fulfilment of the responsibilities pertaining to the healthcare protocol.

6. Scholarship holders who started their studies earlier than the 2021/2022 Academic Year can participate in the medical examinations and can take up the required vaccines stipulated in the healthcare protocol of their own accord.

7. In the case of section 6, the scholarship holder shall notify the host institution of their wish to participate. The host institution shall notify Tempus Public Foundation and the relevant healthcare provider of the scholarship holder’s wish to participate, then proceed to provide the scholarship holder the technical information necessary to participate in the process. The host institution shall inform all upperclassmen scholarship holders of the possibility to participate in the medical examination.

8. It is the responsibility of the host institution to provide the possibility of the medical examinations ordered by the institution managing the scholarship programme. The institution managing the scholarship programme can decide – for the sake of effectiveness and coherence of the process - to prepare the list of approved healthcare providers conducting the medical examinations through a tender procedure, in which participation is mandatory for all providers wishing to be on the list, except for higher education institutions offering medicine programmes and the background institution entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade with the public function of organizing preparatory courses in Hungarian language, for whom it is optional to participate.

9. The medical examination must be financed by the amount allocated for supplementary medical care, but the institution can finance it from the cost of the study programmes and the flat-rate organisation allowance, if needed.

10. In case the institution managing the scholarship programme decides that the approved healthcare providers are to be selected through a tender procedure as per section 8, the institution using the services of the selected healthcare provider shall receive reduced supplementary medical care, based on the number of students using the services. The institution managing the scholarship programme shall take upon itself to pay the expenses in relation to the medical examinations of the relevant students towards the selected healthcare provider up to a predetermined envelope per scholarship holder.

11. The healthcare provider shall collect the students’ medical forms, conduct medical examinations and vaccinate the students using their service within the framework of the healthcare protocol. The necessary examinations and vaccinations are listed in the Implementation Guide.

12. The collection of medical forms, the medical examinations and the vaccinations shall take place as soon as possible after the student enters Hungary, but no later than 2 weeks after their arrival.

13. The healthcare professional responsible for the examination shall issue a certification on whether the examined student is fit/unfit/temporarily unfit (with the indication of period) or temporarily fit only online (with the indication of period) based on their professional judgement, the examination results and the medical form collected from the student. An unfit certification may lead to the termination or suspension of the student’s scholarship holder status, depending on whether the student is unfit to start or continue their studies at their programme temporarily or indefinitely. Consequently, the certification must contain, whether the student is unfit temporarily or indefinitely. If the student is temporarily unfit, the duration of unfitness must be included in the certification as well. In connection to the medical examination the possible cases of the termination and suspension of the scholarship status is listed in section III.5.

14. The healthcare provider shall determine the place of collecting medical forms, the medical examination and the vaccination after consulting with the host institution and Tempus Public Foundation. During the selection, priority should be given to places near the host institution and the place of study of the scholarship holder. In case the host institution offers a place within its facilities for this purpose, the healthcare provider must accept and use the offered place.

15. In case the healthcare provider orders medical services other than the ones determined in the Implementation Guide, the institution managing the scholarship programme shall not take upon itself to pay such services, as it falls outside the services listed in the healthcare protocol.

16. The host institution must cooperate with the healthcare provider selected as per section 8 for the purpose of providing the services within the healthcare protocol, and must support them in providing said services, furthermore they must inform the relevant scholarship holders properly.

17. It is compulsory for the higher education institutions to send monthly – statistical and anonymous – reports to the institution managing the scholarship programme in connection to the medical examinations conducted. In case the medical examinations are conducted by the healthcare provider selected as per section 8, it is the healthcare provider’s responsibility to prepare monthly reports – statistical and anonymous. In the latter case, the host institution must cooperate with the healthcare provider in providing the student population statistics necessary to prepare the monthly reports.

CHAPTER VI: HEALTH CARE PROTOCOL (MEDICAL EXAMINATION)

1. By Government Decree 1793/2019 (XII. 23.) on the strategic correlations of the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme the Government has accepted the strategic courses of action of the scholarship programme, with one of its elements being the improvement of health security. In accordance with this – and based on Government Decree 16/2021 (I.22.) on the medical examination of students entering Hungary during a state of emergency, furthermore authorised by Section 80 (2) h) of the Higher Education Act – the ministry controlling the programme has ordered compulsory medical examination (“compulsory health care protocol”) for students supported by said scholarship programme, as a prerequisite for participation.

1.A The administrative tasks related to the medical examination shall be carried out by the Public Foundation on the basis of the guidelines of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade under this chapter.

2. The institution or health care provider conducting the aptitude test processes the student’s health data in accordance with the provisions of Act CLIV of 1997 on Health Care.

3. The compulsory health care protocol was first introduced in the case of students whose scholarship holder status was established in the 2021/2022 academic year.

4. The scholarship holder must fulfil their obligations related to the health care protocol (completion of medical form, undergoing the medical examinations and receiving the required vaccinations listed in the Implementation Guide) at a health care provider that is on the list of providers approved by their host institution or the ministry controlling the programme.

5. The scholarship agreement between the scholarship holder and their host institution must provide for the fulfilment of the responsibilities pertaining to the health care protocol.

6. Upper-year scholarship students who are not required to be screened may voluntarily participate in the vaccinations and screenings required by the health care protocol during their studies, if the total amount of the service fee for the academic year and the number of scholarship holders who need the services allow.

7. In the case of section 6, the scholarship holder shall notify the host institution of their wish to participate. The host institution shall notify Tempus Public Foundation and the relevant health care provider of the scholarship holder’s wish to participate, then proceed to provide the scholarship holder the technical information necessary to participate in the process. The institution shall inform the senior scholarship holder of the possibility of voluntary participation in accordance with section 6.

8. Facilitating the medical examination ordered by the ministry controlling the HDS Programme is the responsibility of the host institution. The ministry controlling the HDS Programme may decide, in the interests of efficiency and uniform implementation, to have the medical examination carried out by selected service providers through a competitive tendering procedure; in such a case, the use of the selected service provider is mandatory, except for the institutions providing medical training and the background institution entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade with the public task of organizing Hungarian language preparatory training. Institutions implementing the medical examinations on their own responsibility must declare in writing before the start of each academic year whether they intend to implement the medical examination on their own responsibility or through the centrally selected provider. Where no competitive tendering procedure is used, the institutions shall ensure that an appropriate health care provider is provided. Decisions on the tendering procedure for the selection of service providers or on the modification of tenderers’ declarations and contract extensions may be taken with the prior agreement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

9. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade provides a special contribution to the costs of the medical examination for institutions carrying out the medical protocol (on the basis of a declaration or in the absence of a central provider) on their own responsibility, as specified in the Implementation Guide, for a certain amount per academic year.

10. The ministry controlling the programme, with the assistance of the Public Foundation, will cover the costs of the medical examination for the selected service providers, up to the amount of the budget allocated to a scholarship holder, for the services provided to the scholarship holders who use these service providers. The total amount of the service fee for a given academic year and the number of scholarship holders using the services will be determined on the basis of the guidelines of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

11. In the scope of the medical examination, the institution responsible for implementing the health protocol or the health care provider completes a medical form on the student, carries out screenings and administers vaccinations. The scope of screenings and vaccinations is described in the Implementation Guide.

12. The completion of the medical forms, the medical examinations and the vaccinations shall take place as soon as possible after the student enters Hungary.

13. The health care professional responsible for the examination shall issue a certification on whether the examined student is fit/unfit/temporarily unfit (with the indication of period) or temporarily fit only online (with the indication of period) based on their professional judgement, the examination results and the medical form. An unfit certification may lead to the termination or suspension of the student’s scholarship holder status, depending on whether the student is unfit to start or continue their studies at their programme temporarily or indefinitely. Consequently, the certification contains, whether the student is unfit temporarily or indefinitely. If the student is temporarily unfit, the duration of unfitness must be included in the certification as well. In connection to the medical examination the possible cases of the termination and suspension of the scholarship status is listed in Section IV.5.

14. The health care provider must consult the higher education institution and the Public Foundation in advance in order to designate the place where the medical form is to be completed and the necessary screenings and vaccinations are to be carried out; for institutions implementing the medical examination under their own responsibility, this consultation obligation applies only towards the Public Foundation. The aim is to ensure that it is carried out at a location close to the institution of the scholar concerned and close to the place of training. If the institution offers to cover the location, the health care provider is obliged to use it as far as possible.

15. If the institution or health care provider implementing the medical examination under its own responsibility prescribes additional treatments other than those specified in the Implementation Guide, the financing of these treatments is not covered by the mandatory health protocol and the ministry controlling the programme will not refinance these.

16. The institution which is not responsible for the implementation of the medical examination must cooperate with the health care provider selected in accordance with point 8, assist in the conduct of the health assessment and provide the scholarship holders with appropriate information.

17. The institutions implementing the medical examination under their own responsibility are required to provide monthly statistical and anonymous data to the Public Foundation, which is mandated by the ministry controlling the HDS Programme. If the health service provider defined in point 8 carries out the medical examinations, the health service provider shall provide monthly – statistical and anonymous – data to the Public Foundation. From these data sources, the Public Foundation will provide monthly – statistical and anonymous – data to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.