On February 15, 2023, at the National Library of Latvia, Riga, at the upcoming international conference “Healthy in Latvia today and tomorrow: are we using the potential of laboratories?” industry professionals will look for ways to use medical laboratories to improve the health care system. The conference is organized by the Association of Healthcare Employers (VADDA) in cooperation with companies and professionals in the health sector, and will be opened by the Minister of Health Līga MenĆgelsone.
The number of registered participants in the conference, which includes health sector specialists from various health care institutions in Riga and regions, representatives of the decision-making authority, as well as the future of Latvian medicine – students, exceeding more than 200 people, means that the topic we have brought up has turned out to be particularly important at the moment.
In the field of laboratory diagnostics, rapid development has been taking place all over the world in recent years, and we are pleased with the responsiveness of the participants of the discussion who agreed to participate in the conference – Latvian health industry professionals. We also appreciate that the head of the world-famous Mayo Clinic Laboratories William G. Morris from the USA will participate in the conference, who will share his experience in the Baltic countries for the first time. The possibilities and role of Latvian medical laboratories in the growth of healthcare, the lesson learned in the COVID-19 crisis, mobilizing technical and employee resources in a short time, the potential of public and private sector cooperation in the future – these are just some of the topics that will be discussed by both local and foreign specialists.
Along with the wide interest of participants, registration for participation in the conference “Healthy in Latvia today and tomorrow: are we using the potential of laboratories?” extended until February 13, 2023.
Healthcare systems in Europe and the world are facing unprecedented challenges due to the rapid increase in demand for quality healthcare. This is determined both by the fact that the society of the Western countries is gradually aging, and also by the fact that due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, many diseases have been allowed in more and more often, as a result of which a huge effort has to be made to restore the situation that existed only 3 years ago. Even with unlimited funding, it is not possible to train a large number of medical professionals in such a short time, so the world is looking for ways to work more efficiently with the available resources, while at the same time not worsening the patient experience.
“The Latvian healthcare sector is also facing big challenges, and in order for it to be able to develop further, it is necessary to look for new ways of working and achieving goals. Laboratory diagnostics, which is one of the most financially effective ways of diagnosing diseases, has experienced rapid development in Latvia in recent years. Timely diagnosis of diseases makes it possible to improve people’s health faster and more accurately, and everyone benefits from timely treatment of diseases – both patients and doctors, as well as society, which pays for the successful functioning of the health care system through taxes,” said Ināra Pētersone, executive director of VADDA.
In order to achieve a noticeable improvement in the functioning of the Latvian health care system, it is necessary to use the potential of every representative of the industry – cooperation between the public and private sectors is important for achieving a positive result. The fact that it is possible to successfully cooperate to achieve common goals was proven by the previous 3 years, when all possible industry resources were involved in limiting the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference will look for solutions on how to effectively continue and improve this cooperation, and how not to repeat the mistakes that were made in the early stages of the pandemic.
In the field of laboratory diagnostics, rapid development has been taking place all over the world in recent years, so representatives of leading medical laboratories from the USA and Switzerland will participate in the conference, who will present how modern laboratories can help improve the work of healthcare systems and what the future of laboratory diagnostics will be in the next 5 to 10 years. at a time.
The conference “Healthy in Latvia today and tomorrow: are we using the potential of laboratories?” will be opened by the Minister of Health Līga MenĆelsone and Māris Rēvalds, chairman of the board of VADDA and “Veselības centra 4”, the discussions will be attended by medical professionals such as “Central Laboratory” board member prof. Jelena Storozhenko, laboratory doctor of “E. Gulbja Laboratorijas” Dr. Jānis Stašulāns, head of the Children’s Clinical University Hospital laboratory Dr. Dagne Grāvele, general manager of “Roche Pharma Latvia” Dr. Rauls Vēliņš, family doctor and vice-president of the Association of Latvian Rural Family Physicians Ainis Dzalbs, chairman of the board of “Central Laboratories” and “Association of Health Centers” Stella Lapiņa, president of the Association of Latvian Doctors Ilze Aizsilniece, vice-chairman of the council of the group of health companies “Repharm” Dins Šmits, ” E. Gulbja Laboratorija” laboratory specialist Mikus Gavars, Chairman of the Board of Children’s Clinical University Hospital Valts Ābols, Deputy Head of RAKUS Laboratory Service Juris Šteinbergs, RSU Public Health director of the institute Anda Ķivīte-Urtāne and other industry professionals.
Foreign guests of the conference, Dr. Bill Morice (MAYO Clinic Laboratories, USA), Dr. Martin Zoche (Molecular Tumor Profiling, University Hospital of Zürich, Switzerland).
Upon pre-registration, other health policy makers and decision makers, health industry professionals, medical and health management students, teaching staff, representatives of non-governmental organizations and anyone interested are also invited to the conference.
“Healthy in Latvia today and tomorrow: are we using the potential of laboratories?”
February 15, at 12:00 – 16:15
National Library of Latvia, Mūkusalas iela 3, Riga.
Live broadcast of the conference on the LETA news portal www.leta.lv and VADDA Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/VADDA.Latvia
Registration for participation in the conference “Healthy in Latvia today and tomorrow: are we using the potential of laboratories?” extended until February 13, 2023 – participation can be registered HERE or by writing to [email protected].
