Latvia

Latvia is located in the northeastern Europe, between Estonia and Lithuania with a coastline on the Baltic Sea. After years of domination by the Great Powers of Europe, the three states enjoyed a period of independence from 1918–40, only to be absorbed into the Soviet Union during World War II. Latvia regained independence in 1991. Latvia had less trouble transitioning to representative democracy and a free-mar-ket economy than other former Soviet states, and was admitted to the European Union in 2004.

The population is 2,260,000. With a death rate of 13.64 per 1,000 compared to a birth rate of 9.43 per 1,000, the population is declining at 0.648 percent annually. Out-migration is also taking a toll, with 2.27 people per 1,000 leaving for life abroad. Median age is 39.6 years. Life expectancy is 66.39 years for males and 77.1 years for females. Gross national income is $6,760 per person. Almost 95 percent of the population works in industry or services, and the country has a generally good economic outlook, with a rising gross domestic product for the past several years.

Mortality in Latvia is driven by noncommunicable diseases arising largely from poor lifestyle choices. Forty percent of males and 42 percent of females are obese. Over 50 percent of men and 19 percent of women over the age of 18 smoke daily. Alcohol consumption is high, with a strong preference for hard liquor, especially vodka. Alcohol is implicated in 180 deaths per 100,000, triple the average in the European Union. Drug use has been on the increase in recent years, with rising rates of both IV drugs, marijuana, amphetamines and Ecstasy.

In all, 78 percent of Latvians die of noncommunicable diseases and 12 percent die from external causes such as accidents or self-inflicted injuries. Unintentional accidents are the leading factor in hospitalizations, and is the third leading cause of mortality. The death rate from injuries, including accidental poisionings, are the cause of 152 deaths per 100,000, compared to 39.4 deaths per 100,000 in the rest of the EU. The rate of suicides are also higher, with 31 deaths per 100,000, compared to 10 per 100,000 in the EU.

Cardiovascular disease is the second-leading cause of morbidity and the leading cause of mortality. Ischaemic heart disease causes 320 deaths per 100,000, with cerebrovascular diseases responsible for 209 deaths per 100,000. These are much higher than the rest of the EU, where ischaemic heart disease causes 97 deaths per 100,000 and cerebrovascular disease causes 61 deaths per 100,000. Cancer is the third-leading cause of mortality, resulting in 192 deaths per 100,000. The death rate from cervical cancer is three times the EU average.

Communicable diseases cause about 1 percent of deaths annually. Clean water and good sanitation is widely available. Latvia is showing some worrying trends in tuberculosis and HIV infections. At 83.5 new cases per 100,000, the tuberculosis rate is eight times the EU average. The adult prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS is 0.8 percent, and there are 23 new HIV cases diagnosed per 100,000. (The EU average is just four cases per 100,000.) The increase in IV drug use is likely to drive the rates higher in the coming years.

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