Baltic states Lithuania and Latvia have significantly more drownings each year than other European Union member states, according to the latest statistics from Eurostat.
Tick activity levels have changed little since last year, concludes the Latvian Center for Infectology on August 11. Approximately 25% of the ticks tested so far in the center’s laboratory have been identified to carry Lyme disease. In contrast, only about 1% of ticks carried encephalitis.
Hospitals in Latvia will not be closed, but from now they will be able to provide only the services that are of sufficient quality, said Health Minister Ilze Viņķele in an interview with Dienas Bizness on July 31.
The State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) has already lifted 60 drowning victims from various waters since the beginning of 2019, reported LSM.lv on July 30. The actual number of drowning victims, however, is higher, according to VUGD.
Hepatitis C could be eradicated with existing funding and effective drugs if problematic access to specialists was resolved, said Kristaps Kaugurs, spokesman for the Hepatitis C Patients, in an interview on Latvian Television on July 23.
Tick activity levels are slightly higher than last year. Individual cases of ehrlichiosis, however, are lower, according to epidemiologist at the Center for Disease prevention and Control Antra Bormane, reported LSM's Latvian service on July 10.
Narcologists express support of the Health Ministry's (VM) plan for reducing alcohol consumption, reported LSM's Latvian service on July 5. The Riga Center for Psychiatry and Narcology noted that the ministry's planned restrictions are aimed primarily at adolescents.
Children with autism, Down's syndrome and other developmental disorders have begun acquiring sign language, which allows nonverbal or minimally verbal children to communicate more effectively with their families, reported Latvian Television on July 6. The Latvian Portage Association offers sign language teaching services as part of their early correction program.
On Friday, July 5, the Ministry of Health (VM) presented the draft of an action plan for reducing alcohol consumption and restricting alcohol addiction in 2020–2022 for public discussion.
The concerns medics have been bringing up for many years have now been confirmed by the State Audit Office. More than half of doctors and nurses are above the age of 50, and the anticipated generational replacement is occurring at a slow rate. Only 65% of new doctors stay in the country after finishing their state-funded studies. Two young doctors from Rīga Stradiņš University admit that the main motivation for leaving is the salary, reported LSM's Latvian service on July 3.
Resident doctor Kārlis Rācenis and resident neurologist Ieva Glāzere are on round the clock duty at the Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital. This is one of the ways for them to earn their residency salary – 820 euros per month.
Resident doctor Kārlis Rācenis and resident neurologist Ieva Glāzere are on round the clock duty at the Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital. This is one of the ways for them to earn their residency salary – 820 euros per month.
When talking about arranging and reducing the number of schools in the country, the number of hospitals should also be mentioned, said the Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (New Unity) in an interview on Latvian Television on July 4.
The State Audit Office (VK), in its audit of the availability of human resources in the health care sector, concluded that there are either no doctors with certain qualifications in many regions, or there are limited numbers of them, reported LSM's Latvian Service on July 3.
Overall, 70 drunk drivers were caught, 6 people died throughout Līgo and Jāņi, reported LSM's Latvian service on June 25.
Every emergency service appraises this year's Līgo night differently. The State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) notes that this year's festival was relatively peaceful. The view is also shared by the State Police, despite its investigation into the case of a person who was run over near Carnikava. The Emergency Medical Care Services (NMPD), however, has had a tough night, reported LSM's Latvian service on June 24.
The number of people who died in car crashes has increased by 20% since 2018, said Normunds Krapsis, the head of the State Police Traffic Safety Administration in an interview with Latvian Television on June 21.
Krapsis emphasized that there will be an increased number of policemen patrolling the roads on Jāņi in an effort to discourage “madmen behind the wheel”. The police urges the public not to be reckless – to get a good night's sleep after the festival or choose driver's who are sober. “As we do every year, we'll increase road policing. There'll be mass checks and raids,” said Krapsis.
Krapsis emphasized that there will be an increased number of policemen patrolling the roads on Jāņi in an effort to discourage “madmen behind the wheel”. The police urges the public not to be reckless – to get a good night's sleep after the festival or choose driver's who are sober. “As we do every year, we'll increase road policing. There'll be mass checks and raids,” said Krapsis.
After conducting bathing water quality tests last week, the Health Inspectorate does not recommend swimming in the “Lucavsala” bathing area of the Daugava river, Rīga, and the “Pasta salas peldvieta” on the left shore of Lielupe, where a high level of microbiological contamination has been detected, reported LSM's Latvian service on June 17.
The two-package national health insurance system, which was set up and intended to be implemented by the previous administration, is postponed until 2021 – the Saeima decided at the final reading on June 13. Until then, it is planned to launch a one package system and set a health insurance contribution of 1% for every wage-earner.
The drastic fluctuations in temperature, from the swelter in the streets to the cool air indoors, have increased cases of pharyngal inflammation, some of which require serious medical treatment, the LSM Latvian service's reported on June 12.
With the arrival of warm weather, the number of drowning victims and accidents are on the rise. The State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) warns bathers not to be reckless.
Donations to the Children's Clinical University Hospital fund have dropped by 25% after the recent tax reform, said the director of the fund Liene Dambiņa in an interview with Latvian Television. She noted that the decrease occurred right at the end of the year, when companies were usually known to make donations, which makes it evident that they now have little motivation to do so.
Financing for healthcare in Latvia should be allocated from the state budget and healthcare must not be financed by social contributions, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Secretary-General Angel Gurria said during a presentation of the OECD Economic Survey of Latvia today.
Latvia's Health Minister Ilze Viņķele (Development/For!) has replaced five chief specialists in the country's healthcare system, including Dace Baltiņa, the ministry's oncology specialist who was, for a time, a high-ranking employee at a company promoting the highly controversial Rigvir anti-cancer medicine.
Latima, a company that is the registrar of the highly controversial Rigvir anti-cancer treatment, has contested the recent sales ban on its medicines using results obtained with an unregistered method.
“Serious political interference” and signs of fraud have been discovered in two of the Health Ministry’s recent high-tech projects, Health Minister Ilze Viņķele (For Development/For!) told journalists May 15.
Health Minister Ilze Viņķele (For Development/For) will propose a €51 annual mandatory payment for uninsured patients, which would effectively mean introducing a single-basket healthcare system in Latvia, the minister told LETA.
Latvia should spend 5 percent of its GDP on healthcare, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) representative Tamas Evetovits believes.
A proposal to decriminalize drug use might soon be submitted to Saeima for debating, Interior Ministry undersecretary of state Jānis Bekmanis told the press April 12.
The sight of cigarette cartons on display in stores is set to become a thing of the past after the Saeima on April 4 passed amendments to the law that will put tobacco products out of sight.
After repeat tests have shown that samples of the Rigvir anti-cancer medicine contain a smaller amount of the active ingredient than promised by the manufacturer, there are calls for police to investigate the case and for patients to demand their Rigvir is tested as well, reported LTV April 2.
Rigvir, a Latvia-invented injectable cancer drug, finds itself at the center of fresh controversy after LTV investigative show De Facto revealed vials of Rigvir virus sold to patients appeared to be less than they seem.