Disease prevention measures are recommended regardless of whether you suffer from a disease or are healthy. The purpose of preventing diseases is to prevent diseases that may potentially threaten you and to stop diseases that have affected you, but also to mitigate the consequences.

Preventive tests

Early detection of health problems can significantly facilitate their treatment, and regular preventive health tests should therefore be carried out.

Once a year, you can turn to your family doctor and carry out free prophylactic testing.

During a preventive examination, the family doctor shall hear complaints, evaluate the state of health and perform the necessary examinations. More information on state-paid prevention tests for children and adults is available at website of the National Health Service.

If you need to check which family doctor you have registered with, you can do this by connecting to the portal e-Health.

Contact your family doctor for preventive testing and agree on the time of the visit. If you need to re-register with another family doctor, please refer to the information available in the description of the life situation Health information for me or children. Information on family doctors according to the sites is available at website of the National Health Service.

Following preventive testing, if necessary, a family doctor may send you to other doctors, such as advice from a doctor, laboratory or diagnostic examinations, surgical manipulation or rehabilitation. To check which authorities provide state-paid health services and where the lines at the doctor are smaller, use the siteRindapiearsta.lv.

You can also perform preventive studies in one of the Red Cross of Latvia for health rooms. They offer free advice on healthy lifestyles and disease prevention, possibly body length and weight measurement, blood pressure measurement. On the other hand, you can also charge for your blood sugar (glucose) and cholesterol levels.

Vaccination

Vaccination is one of the means of preventing diseases. Cabinet of Ministers Vaccination rules the identification of infectious diseases against which vaccination is required.

Mandatory persons to be vaccinated, as well as the vaccination calendar, shall determine the Vaccination Regulation Annex 1 and Annex 2.

Children must be vaccinated against tick encephalitis in areas containing highest incidence of tick encephalitis if the declared place of residence of the child is in that territory. The children declared in those areas are subject to state-paid vaccines. Vaccination is planned and carried out by a family doctor. Residents have the right to choose a vaccination institution or a medical practitioner who will perform the vaccination, as well as to refuse the vaccination of their own, their child or a person in custody. If a person refuses vaccination, the medical practitioner has a duty to explain to the person the importance of vaccination in the protection of individual and public health. If a person does not change his or her decision, the medical practitioner must draw up a refusal in writing and the person to be vaccinated/the parent or guardian of the child to be vaccinated must sign it. If possible, it may be agreed with a medical practitioner regarding the drawing up and signing of a distance written refusal for vaccination with a safe  electronic signature.

Prevention and diagnosis of cancer

State-paid prevention tests for breast cancer, cervical cancer and bowel cancer are available for timely cancer diagnosis.

Each year, on a random basis, according to the population register, NSAs shall send letter of invitation to the State paid cervical test to women who remain 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, 40, 43, 46, 49, 52, 55, 58, 61, 64, 67 years and state-paid mammography for women remaining 50, 52, 54, 56, 58,, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68 years. Letters of invitation shall be sent to the declared address of the person's place of residence within a period of approximately three months from the date of the age mentioned above. The invitation is valid for three years, but it is recommended that you perform an exam within a few months of receiving the invitation.

If you need to verify the address of your declared place of residence:

• use the free e-service My data in the register;

• write an application, sign with confidence electronic signature and send to the OCMA   e-address or to pasts@pmlp.gov.lv;
• on-site at the OCMA.

Prevention tests for bowel cancer organize family doctors' practices. A state-paid check can be conducted annually by women and men aged 50 to 74. The invitation letter shall not be sent for this verification. To perform the test, refer to your family doctor's practice for a test kit and information about performing an exam at home.

More information on state-paid cancer prevention tests is available at website of the National Health Service.

Men's health

Men are more likely to have a higher prevalence of individual health risk factors, such as smoking and traumatism. You can familiarise yourself with the facts regarding the health of a man in Latvia, prepared by the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control infographic. Statistics show that the most common among men are diseases in the circulatory system and malignancies (prostate, bronchial and lung, intestine). In order to detect health risks in a timely manner, it is essential to carry out preventive tests. For any suspected health problems, seek the help of a family doctor or a specialist.

HIV prevention

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes AIDS. More information on this infection is available on the CDPC website.

An HIV test or blood test should be performed to see if a person has an HIV infection. In Latvia, blood may be transferred to HIV in any laboratory with or without the referral of a doctor. HIV expatriate can also be carried out free of charge and anonymously in one of the following HIV prevention points. If tested positive for HIV, please refer to Latvian Infathology Centre (Riga, Linezera Street 3) where the final confirmation of a diagnosis of HIV infection will be conducted.

As of August 2019, Riga, Pierga, Ventspils and Jelgava are available support personal services in people who have received positive results of HIV and/or hepatitis B expressionism at the HIV prevention point. In Riga, free services paid by the local government to people affected by HIV and their relatives, such as social worker, psychologist counselling, are also provided by the association DIA + Window. The Society's mobile unit vans can be anonymously tested for HIV and consulted.

Nutrition, or daily meals, has a very large impact on our feeling and state of health. In society, awareness of healthy nutrition may vary, so we call for reliable sources of information when looking for advice on nutrition. The Ministry of Health has developed advice on healthy nutrition according to different lifestyles, such as children, pregnant women, vegetarians.

Normally, nutrition refers most directly to our body, increasing or decreasing body weight. The simplest weight tests can be carried out at home, but they do not provide a fully objective scene. Top weight index calculation (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio, weight determination of body fat. For the exact determination of body composition, diagnostic tests can be performed in medicated establishments. The BMI and body weight can also be determined free of charge by the Red Cross of Latvia in health rooms.

Food supplements

Visual food supplements may remind you of medicines, but they are not. Food supplements cannot replace healthy, balanced diets and physical activities. Food supplements, by their definition, are food products for daily nutritional purposes. Parts of pharmacies, as well as products sold in specialised stores containing various vitamins, minerals, herbal substances and other well-known substances, such as fish oil, glycosamine, lactic acid bacteria, fall within the food supplement category.

Before taking food supplements, it is recommended that you check the state of health of your family doctor, who will help you determine whether and what additional substances, vitamins are necessary for you. More information on food supplements, as well as on nutrients, the lack of which is most common to Latvian residents, is available on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture.

If you still want to supplement your diet with these types of food, buy only registered food supplements. Use the Food and Veterinary Service to check the origin and status of a particular product Register of food supplements. May only be distributed in Latvia FVS registered food supplements.

Increasingly aware of the importance of the emotional and mental dimension of human beings, as well as efforts to reduce the diversity of stereotypes in the field of mental health, national, local governments and non-governmental organisations organise various types of psychological health support measures.

State and non-governmental organisations providing crisis, trust and informative phones. For example, “Skalbes” societies crisis phone provides psychological and informative assistance to people in crisis situations and is the only day-to-day telephone available to all residents of Latvia. The Skalbes Society also provides a separate supporting phone for victims of crime. In turn, free children and teens are available to all children and adolescents in Latvia Trust phone. Online counselling is available for children and adolescents who are in crisis with psychologists from the Child and Teenage Trust phone “Skalbes”, “Martha” center, “Centre Darling fire” assistance shall also be provided to women and children affected by violence.

Regular care about emotional self-being, managing stress and burning, and helping in psychological crises can prevent serious and far-reaching consequences of contracting into mental illnesses. In situations where the support of a competent specialist is needed, it is recommended that a psychologist or psychotherapist be contacted. Sometimes mental and psychoemotional health programmes provided by local governments, such as free lectures and lessons, can be useful for restoring psychological resources. For more information on the opportunities available in local governments, see the section on the Health Promotion Programmes for municipalities.

If you are suspected of having a mental illness for yourself or a relative, such as depression, intrusive, unrealistic thoughts, suicidal or similar types of disorder, contact your specialists for help. Can be used services of State-paid psychiatrist who will be able to identify the type of mental illness and the best treatment method. In order to receive a State-paid counselling of a psychiatrist, a referral of a family doctor or other doctor-specialist shall be required. Then, if the diagnosis is confirmed, the patient can turn to a state-paid psychiatrist without referral, with only a patient co-payment. Confidentiality is respected during the treatment process.

In order to provide people with psychological assistance as appropriate as possible to their needs, depending on the context of their lives, there are a number of specialised activities in their field non-governmental organisations supporting individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

A physically active lifestyle can be seen as one of the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle: physical activity is important at any age. In contrast, low-moving lifestyles can cause many diseases.

Each can choose the right physical activity by type and location. Someone might seem more suited to visiting a gym, another is much more likely to have activities in the open. An alternative to a gym visit is a variety of free exercise events organised by local governments, such as joint exercise initiatives in the open. If you still want to exercise yourself in a comfortable time, alone or in your company, you can use open-air training devices and sports, active recreational areas specially designed in local governments. For information on the location of outdoor training devices in Riga, please refer to Riga municipality website. Training training devices in Riga are also located in sports areas near schools. A list of these areas is available Riga City Council Education, Culture and Sport Department website. Be interested in the possibilities of physical activity in other areas in the relevant municipality. For information on measures of physical activity in Riga municipality, please refer to the section of the description in the Local Governments of the Health Promotion Programme.

Municipalities are in many ways the closest to the population, so they also play an important role in promoting the health of the population.

For example, the Public Health Strategy of Riga City Municipality Healthy mourners in Riga offers citizens a variety of free health promotion measures and information family health, physical health, food, prevention of infectious diseases, mental health and addiction prevention and assistance in areas. Keep up with the most up-to-date public health information and local government offers on the website Veselsridzinieks.lv and on the Facebook website “Healthy Riga”.

In order to promote the exchange of experience and ideas between municipalities and to support the development of health, welfare and equal opportunities at regional level, the majority of Latvian municipalities are involved in National Healthy Local Government Network. This means that local governments comply with the law For local governments as well as the guidelines of the Centre for Disease and Prevention on promoting the health of the population, it should be possible for the population to implement healthy lifestyles using the resources provided by the municipality. Be interested in your local government.

Before using health care services, make sure that the particular medical treatment institution or person is entitled to perform his or her activities. Healthcare services are entitled to provide only in the Register of Medical Persons included medical practitioners and medical treatment institutions registered in the register of medical treatment institutions.

For more information on services that may have a negative impact on health and the possibility of referring to the Health Inspectorate, refer to the description of the life situation. Consumer protection under the heading “Where to address suspected breaches of health service providers”.

If you need any medicines, buy them only in licensed pharmacies. You may find the pharmacy nearest to you by the State Agency of Medicines Pharmacy card. Use Latvian Register of Medicinal Products in order to obtain comprehensive and comprehensive information on medicinal products, including instructions for use of medicinal products, information on availability of medicinal products, the maximum permissible price of medicinal products in a pharmacy that should not be exceeded, as well as, for example, information on whether the medicinal product is to be used for children, as well as other information.

If questions arise regarding the procedures for the issuance of medicinal products in pharmacies, advertising of medicinal products or the price of medicinal products, you may refer to the Health Inspectorate:

• using an e-service Application Health Inspectorate;

• by writing an application, by signing with a secure  electronic signature and sending to HI  e-address or vi@vi.gov.lv;
• in the presence at the HI.

Before visiting public swimming pools, baths, beauty or tattoo salons, check that service providers are officially registered. Where they are established and provide services, the providers of such services must be registered with the Health Inspectorate. On the HI website, in the list Beauty and tattoo service providers You can get acquainted with registered service providers.

Beauty service providers should provide professional, high-quality and hygienic services, as health-sensitive and non-hygienic services, workplaces and facilities can lead to the spread of infectious diseases. The customer has the right to expect the service provider to comply with all hygiene standards, including cleanliness of premises, surfaces and accessories and hand hygiene. More information on hygiene requirements for the provision of beauty services is available on the HI website. If you have observed irregularities in this area, report them to VI. You can submit an application or feedback:

• using an e-service Application Health Inspectorate;

• by writing an application, by signing with a secure  electronic signature and sending to the HI  e-address or vi@vi.gov.lv;
• in the presence at the HI.

Certain hygiene requirements shall also apply to catering and food business establishments. More information on requirements is available at website of the Food and Veterinary Service. In this case, you may report any irregularities identified to the FVS:

• documents signed with secure  electronic signature, to be sent to the FVS  e-address or pasts@pvd.gov.lv or territorial units;
• hand-signed documents to be sent by post (address - Peldu Street 30, Riga, LV-1050) or territorial units.

For more information on services that may have a negative impact on health and the possibility of referring to the Health Inspectorate, refer to the description of the life situation Consumer protection.

If you visit bathing areas, pay attention to the quality of bathing water. The official bathing sites where VI has monitored bathing water can be found in the HI official bathing map. The latest bathing water results and information on bathing restrictions are also available. On the HI website information is available on both the official and the results of the informal bathing water quality of local governments, where municipalities have commissioned analyses and submitted the results to VI. You can engage in bathing water quality observations – perform visual water observations and fill in electronic questionnaire on the HI website.

On the website of the State Blood Centre make sure you can become a blood donor. You can fill in there blood donor questionnaire and donor application by indicating the desired time and place of donation. If you know your blood group, you can keep track of your website for blood supply and if you meet all the donor criteria, apply for blood transfer if your blood group is missing in the stock.

However, take into account the allowed blood transfer rate – men are allowed to transfer blood up to 6 times a year, while women are advised no more than 4 times over a 12-month period. A full 9-week interval should be followed between blood transfers. Donating blood six times in one year, men then have to follow a 3 month break. It is recommended that you get acquainted with each blood donation for advice before and after blood donation. If you transfer your blood during your work, the Labour Act provides that, in agreement with your employer, you are eligible for a paid rest day. Such a rest day shall normally be granted on the working day following the transfer of blood, but may also be used later in agreement with the employer.

If you are a resident income tax (IT) payer, you are entitled to compensation (overpayment of tax) for the eligible costs of medicated services, including dental care.

Note that if you are working in micro-enterprises (as of 1 July 2021, the limit applies only to the owner of a micro-enterprise), you are a seasonal farm worker or a reduced patent payer, or you pay an IT only for income from capital gains, you will not be able to recover the tax overpayment because in these cases the full income tax rate is not paid. Your expense documents may be added and submitted to your statement by your family members who have paid the full rate of income taxes on their residents.

You must submit an annual income statement to the State Revenue Service (SRS) in order to recover the money for the eligible costs of healthcare services. The declaration is submitted once a year and you need documents supporting payment, such as cheques, receipts or copies thereof, to complete it. It is most convenient to submit an annual income statement electronically SRS EDS. Read the description of the life situation for more details on the presentation of the declaration Annual income declaration.

Health statistics database

Esparveselibu.lv - platform of the Ministry of Health with the most current information on health promotion and disease prevention

Latvian Red Cross Society Health rooms

Register of food supplements

Crisis, trust and informational phones

Veseligsridzinieks.lv - free health promotion activities in Riga City municipality

Register of medical practitioners

Register of medical treatment institutions

Pharmacy card

Official bathing site

The Ministry of Health (HM)

The Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDPC)

The National Health Service (NHS)

The Health Inspectorate (HI)

The State Agency of Medicines (SAM)

The State Blood Donor Centre (SBDC)

The State Revenue Service (SRS)

The Food and Veterinary Service (FVS)

The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA)

The Welfare Department of Riga City Council

The State Radio and Television Centre of Latvia (SRTCL)

Health information for me or my children

Sick leave and action in the event of illness

Workplace health

Consumer protection

Annual income declaration