State support to medication therapy for children in Latvia

On global and European scale, maternal and child's health is proposed as one of the top-priority indicator of public health and welfare. In general, national welfare, social development and health are characterised by the birth and infant mortality rates. Having evaluated these indicators, it may be concluded that in Latvia since 2012 the birth rate is increasing from year to year, whereas the infant mortality rate is gradually decreasing verging on the average rate of the European Union member states in 2014. The birth rate depends very heavily on the country's economic situation within a specific period of time and the parents' readiness to undertake child rearing, whereas the infant mortality rate is more connected with the maternal and child health condition as well as the availability of health care in the country. This Research analyses national policy instruments for the enhancement of maternal and child health in the last three years paying special attention to the state support to medication therapy for children in Latvia, taking into consideration that medicinal products constitute a significant element of health technologies. The results show possible correlation between application of state support instruments and improvement of child health indicators. The most important measures ensuring state support to medication therapy for children in Latvia are reimbursement of the purchase of medicinal products and medical devices intended for outpatient treatment, centralised purchasing of medicinal products performed by the National Health Service and medicinal establishments as well as a specific budget sub-programme designed for the treatment of children with rare diseases.