Latvia

Health systems in transition
Latvia
Table 5.4 Health care personnel per 1000 population, 1990–2005
Years 1990 1994 1996 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Active physicians 4.17 3.04 3.01 3.15 3.28 2.98 3.06 3.06 3.10 3.16
GPs 0.01 0.03 0.12 0.21 0.40 0.41 0.44 0.45 0.53 0.56
Active dentists 0.49 0.26 0.48 0.44 0.53 0.53 0.54 0.55 0.60 0.63
Feldshers 1.79 1.01 0.98 0.83 0.76 0.72 0.75 0.75 0.70 0.77
Midwifes 0.55 0.34 0.29 0.26 0.21 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20
Active nurses 5.69 4.62 4.79 4.43 4.24 4.17 4.17 4.29 4.38 4.49
Source: HSMTSA databases 2007 [unpublished data].
Note: GP: General practitioner.
was due to the privatization of practically all dental practices, thus increasing
their profitability and the attractiveness of this profession.
The decline in doctor numbers can be ascribed to a number of factors,
including declining numbers of hospitals and hospital beds, as well as low
salaries and prestige for health care professionals that led to the departure of
many practising doctors from the health sector in search of other, more lucrative
jobs in other sectors of the economy. On the other hand, the stability in doctor
numbers that has been witnessed since the late 1990s has been due to significant
increases in doctors’ incomes (a near doubling compared to earlier years), a
marked slowdown in resignations from the health sector and a return to the
medical field from other sectors.
Figure 5.5 shows how doctor numbers in Latvia compare with those of
several other neighbouring countries as well as EU averages. It presents a broad
picture, showing that in 2005 there were approximately 3.15 physicians per
1000 inhabitants in Latvia, which was almost as many as the average number
for the whole of the EU (EU27) (3.17 per 1000 inhabitants) and for the EU10
(3.35 per 1000 inhabitants).
The distribution of doctors throughout Latvia is uneven. Whereas in Riga
there are more than 500 doctors per 100 000 inhabitants, in some regions there
are fewer than 200 per 100 000. In addition, the age structure of doctors is
unfavourable, as 16% of physicians have reached retirement age, while only
12.7% are under 35 years of age. The lowest proportion of young doctors is
observed among GPs (10%), gynaecologists (1.5%) and ophthalmologists
(14.2%). A high proportion of elderly physicians is typical in the case of surgeons
(44.5%), ophthalmologists (44.2%) and gynaecologists (40.1%). An analysis
of physicians’ retirement process has shown that 7% of family doctors, 20.7%
of surgeons, 22.6% of gynaecologists, 23.3% of ophthalmologists and 19.5%
of traumatologists were to have reached retirement age by the end of 2005
(Databases of the HSMTSA 2007 [unpublished data]).
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