On August 5, Daniels Pavluts, Minister of Health addressed members on the healthcare sector challenges following the pandemic.

The Minister explained the current epidemiological situation in Latvia and introduced with the COVID-19 strategy for this fall. He emphasized that it is important to open schools at the beginning of September as well as to foster vaccination, improve workplace infrastructure, improve controls and adjust businesses to be able to work online. He also stressed that widespread testing and safety protocols will be used to keep infection rates low and, if needed, short lockdowns will be introduced to stop infection.

He also explained three safety regimes of COVID-19: safe, partially safe places and unsafe places. He touched upon ways to mobilize primary care practitioners, importance of intensifying information campaigns and provision of easy access to vaccines as well as involving NGOs and the private sector to help organize vaccinations at workplaces.

The Minister reflected on the Digital Health Strategy as an ecosystem where the state institutions define the architecture and ensure governance principles, while the ecosystem feeds the architecture with the content.

The Minister extended full support to the ongoing projects of the AmCham Healthcare work group, namely: Oncology Data Registry, Digital Health Strategy, Legal Framework for Secondary Use of Health Data and the Health Data Summit.

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