Latvia

Health systems in transition
Latvia
Patient information
The 1997 Law on Medical Care (articles 20–23) also regulates the patient’s
right to information. A patient has the right to receive clear information about
diagnosis and a plan of examination and treatment, and the right to refuse
examination and/or treatment either partly or completely. The same law also
guarantees a patient’s right to information about quality of care.
In practice, information is provided mainly by the patient’s GP, the SCHIA,
the Ministry of Health and its subordinate institutions, and local governments.
The GP usually serves as a health counsellor, providing advice on the specialist,
hospital or rehabilitation institution that is appropriate to the patient’s needs.
The SCHIA provides information concerning prices of health care services
and the level of the ceiling on co-payments (Section 3.3 Population coverage
and basis for entitlement). This information is distributed to patients through
posters and booklets made available to the territorial branches and in health
care facilities. The Ministry of Health and the agencies under its jurisdiction
provide information on general matters relating to health care, according to
the specific areas for which they are responsible. Finally, local governments
provide information relating to social benefits, such as reimbursements to lowincome
patients for health care services and exemptions from payments for
pharmaceuticals. Some local governments publish newspapers and booklets that
are distributed to their relevant populations free of charge, as well as hotlines
operated by social workers.
In recent years there have been major improvements in the availability of
information through a growing contribution to information dissemination made
by the mass media and the Internet.
There is, however, evidence that there are inequities in access to information
among the Latvian population due to a number of factors, including levels of
income and education, geographical location, language, and the presence of
physical disabilities (Muller et al. 2005). According to a survey published in
2002, 38% of respondents in Latgale (the poorest region of Latvia) considered
themselves to be “badly informed” compared to the national average of 31%,
and compared to Vidzeme where the corresponding figure was 24%. Further,
46% of respondents with incomplete primary education felt they were “badly
informed” compared to an average of 31%. In the case of people with physical
disabilities, there is no special information available (Baltic Institute of Social
Sciences 2002).
According to another survey, also published in 2002 (CIET 2002), only 25%
of respondents replied that they had all the information they needed concerning
statutory health care services and provision of medication. Respondents from
Latvian-speaking households felt they were better informed about entitlements
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