The total area of Poland is 312,679 km² (120,728 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and 9th in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38.5 million people, which makes it the 33rd most populous country in the world.

A complete description of Polish the Health Care System  available online at:

World Health Organization - Regional Office for Europe

Although there is no specific regulation regarding Advance Directives in Poland, they are functioning (i.e. are written in the form of living will, and are obeyed by medical staff) very well in the every-day practice, especially those which are religious-based (Jehovah's Witness).

Used terms:

• Dyrektywy medyczne na przyszłość (Advance Directive)
• Testament życia (Living will)
• Ustanowiony przedstawicie prawny (Durable Power of Attorney)
• Zastępca, Opiekun prawny (Proxy)
  

These terms are the translation of the essential terms, but it is necesary to emphasize that the Polish terminology on AD is still in state of flux. There is a tendency, which occurs in others countries, to assimilate English terms, for example, translation “DNR order” to “Oświadczenie o niepodejmowaniu reanimacji” or simply “Oświadczenie DNR”.

At the current time there is no registry of ADs, meaning that it is impossible to know how many ADs have been written by Polish citizens.

Currently, there is no specific regulation of Advance Directives in Poland. However citizens complete these documents and health professionals take them into account.

Polish Parliament still has not ratified the European Convention on Bioethics (Oviedo).

 However, it is possible to find some "indications" in the law (Ustawa o zawodach lekarza i lekarza dentysty [ Bill professions of physician and dentist] which regulate, for instance, medical professions in Poland.

There are also some regulations related to organs transplantation (the living will regarding accepting or rather excluding to be an organ donor - www.poltransplant.org.pl ).

Deontological codes, in particular the Code of Doctors' Ethics [Kodeks Etyki Lekarskiej], contains rules regarding ADs although not explicitly wording.

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There is no official procedure for registering an Advance Directive in Poland.

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There is no specific Advance Directive form in Poland.