Latvian medics brace for protests, demanding funding increase

The Latvian trade union of medical employees is planning protests to make the government increase funding for the health sector, the union's leader Valdis Keris told reporters on Monday.

"These will not be strikes, because strikes only involve employees. These might be popular rallies, meetings," the union leader said.

He also warned that if the planned protests did not have the desired effect and were ignored by the government, the union would try to gather 10,000 signatures and submit the petition to Latvian parliament to consider.

Keris slammed Latvia's center-right government for failing to keep its promise to raise health funding annually to reach four percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017 and 4.2 percent of GDP in 2018. This promise has now been eliminated from the government's action plan and has been replaced by the intent to launch a health reform, but the government still promised it would not to reduce funding to the sector below 3.02 percent of GDP.

Responding to the medics' union announcement, Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis told reporters in the afternoon his government would make an additional 35 million euros (39 million U.S. dollars) available to the health sector.

The prime minister indicated this was the amount necessary to start the reform, but that broader analysis was needed to decide on further funding increases. Kucinskis is also to meet with the medics union this Friday to inform them about the government's priorities and reform plans. Endit