Fact-check: health care promises from Latvia's last election largely unfulfilled
Fact-checking project "Re:Check" has found that political parties' promises to improve health care, made ahead of the previous Saeima election, have mostly gone unfulfilled.
Latvia's health care system has long struggled with the same set of problems: a shortage of funding and medical staff, long waiting times for patients, and a significant share of treatment costs that people must pay out of their own pockets.
Four years ago, ahead of the previous Saeima election, political parties promised to change this situation. Among their key pledges were lowering medication prices, increasing the health sector's budget, and improving access to services for the wider population.
Findings
The "Re:Baltica" fact-checking project "Re:Check" has now examined how far these promises have actually been carried out over the past four years. Its conclusion is that little of what was promised has been delivered — most of the commitments made on health care remain unfulfilled.
This means residents of Latvia still face problems similar to those of four years ago: long waits to see specialists, high medication costs, and the need to cover a substantial part of treatment expenses themselves.
The "Re:Check" review allows voters to compare pre-election promises with what has actually been achieved, offering a way to assess how well politicians have kept their word when it comes to health care.
