Knowing that even €30,000 may not be enough, it is planned to introduce a cancer fund, the size of which is still to be decided.
The fund could pay out more than €30,000 if a committee, to be set up by the National Health Service, a panel of doctors and patient organizations, so decides.
Theoretically, these plans are to be implemented next year.
The problem of reimbursable medicines in Latvia is acute: there is increasing talk of cases where the state often refuses to reimburse oncology patients. There are also cases of patients with the same diagnosis but different cancer locations being reimbursed by the state, while others are not.
The Health Minister has stated that the situation was due to a lack of finances. Meanwhile, patients' only hope is the support of donors, and in some cases the sums needed are enormous. The Ministry of Health will ask for additional funding for reimbursable medicines when preparing next year's draft budget. The National Health Service noted that the national budget for reimbursable medicines needs an additional €150 million for all patients.
