Opening speech at the Better Health for All in Latvia conference

18 April 2011, Riga, Latvia

Honourable President, Minister,
Your excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a delight to be here in Riga for the Better Health for All in Latvia conference. I would like to start by thanking the Government of Latvia for inviting me and my colleagues from WHO as part of the consultation process on Latvia’s new Public Health Strategy for 2011–2017. I thank your Excellency, President Valdis Zatlers, and especially the Minister of Health, Juris Barzdins, for their hospitality and warm welcome.

I am grateful and excited about the partnership between WHO and Latvia in developing Latvia’s new public health strategy and of WHO’s health policy for the European Region – Health 2020. Both initiatives are based on the shared values of solidarity and participation, human rights and placing people at the centre of a movement that aims to achieve health and well-being for all. Both also require:

  • tackling the persistent inequity in health in Latvia and the European Region;
  • dealing with the growing epidemics in noncommunicable diseases and containing communicable diseases; and
  • addressing the social and economic determinants that are at the root of so many of these problems.

All this needs to happen in a rapidly changing European and global context.

These are not easy tasks at the best of times and are even more demanding given the many challenges we face today.

In the response to the economic crisis, the Government of Latvia has made major steps in the right direction. The Ministry of Health should be congratulated for committing to making the best use of available resources by introducing measures that give relative priority to primary care, coverage of essential medicines and outpatient specialist services while reducing hospital capacity, which was far above the European Union average and comparable countries. The new Social Safety Net Strategy provides additional protection and better targets public resources to poor people. It is also remarkable how the emergency health services were reformed during the crisis. These measures have the potential to improve efficiency, maintain solidarity and focus on improving the performance of the health system and are thus consistent with WHO’s advice to countries throughout the European Region.

In a letter to the Prime Minister in 2010, I was pleased to offer our support to the Ministry of Health in its efforts to reform the health system and protect the health budget from further cuts. International comparison suggests that public expenditure on health as a share of total government spending can be increased in Latvia. Although we argue for more spending on health, we agree that the system needs to demonstrate improved performance and, indeed, the reform measures point in the right direction. In addition to responding to the request for technical support on reforming the financing and delivery of health services, we have also been pleased to support Latvia in its efforts to develop this new public health strategy, which includes a renewed emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion as well as addressing inequity in health. I can assure you that we will continue to support you in the next stages of developing and implementing your policy.

Strong public health services are central to addressing the health and development challenges we face today. WHO’s new health policy for the European Region, Health 2020, like your policy, places public health at the centre, addressing social determinants and inequity in health, and we would welcome your input in our efforts to develop Health 2020.

Achieving better health for all requires us to work innovatively through partnerships with other sectors. Trade, agriculture, the environment, education, transport – to name just a few – all have important effects on health, and conversely a healthy population is fundamental to these sectors, to development in Latvia and society as a whole. To achieve better health for all in Latvia, health and well-being need to be considered as part of a whole-of-government approach and become central to the country’s overall development.

This endeavour requires leadership across the whole of government. I am therefore happy and grateful to see the commitment by Latvia’s President and Prime Minister as well as other ministers whom I will meet later today to work together with the Minister of Health in achieving health for all Latvians. I applaud your leadership in this area.

The task ahead will not be easy, but I feel so much more encouraged and optimistic seeing you all here today and knowing that we can work together.

Again, Mr President, and honourable Minister of Health, thank you for this opportunity for being here and for your support. I wish you and all of us a successful day that energizes us as we move forward in our quest for better health for all in Latvia and in Europe.

Thank you.