The Minister of Health, Hosam Abu Meri, revealed a "sensation". No, funding for analyzers for type 1 diabetes patients has not yet been found, nor are there funds for reducing waiting times for doctors and for surgeries... But there is a super plan.
Abu Meri proposes to merge the Ministry of Welfare and the Ministry of Health by the end of the year. "This will be a pre-election proposal from 'New Unity'," proudly announced the Minister of Health.
The question arises: where have the minister and his party been before? What has prevented them from implementing such a reorganization while in power for so many years?
To be fair, a year ago, the Minister of Finance from 'New Unity', Arvils Ašeradens, while working on the 2026 budget project, mentioned the feasibility of merging the ministries. However, it did not progress to specifics — apparently, his own party members suggested that he not touch the ministries and officials and look for other ways to save state funds — without encroaching on state governance.
It should be noted that there is nothing revolutionary in the proposal from the Minister of Health — this is, as they say, an old idea long forgotten. From 1992 to 2002, there was also no separate Ministry of Health — the healthcare sector was under the Ministry of Welfare: after the restoration of independence, it was fashionable to return to the experience of the first republic, and it was decided not to create a Ministry of Health since during the First Republic, one agency — the Ministry of People's Welfare — was responsible for medicine and social assistance.
However, there were so-called ministers without portfolios — state ministers of health who oversaw the healthcare sector under the Ministry of Welfare.
Only under the Repše government, under pressure from the medical professionals themselves, was the Ministry of Health established, which still exists today. During this period, that is, over 23 years, there have been as many as 16 ministers, not counting those who temporarily acted as Minister of Health!
It cannot be said that a separate ministry has significantly helped the healthcare sector itself: although in recent years the healthcare budget has significantly increased — especially during the pandemic — Latvia still ranks among the last in the EU in terms of healthcare funding. However, we are among the leaders in terms of funding for medical services by patients themselves.
