Public healthcare must be based on research

The study of public health issues, the development of research projects based thereon and use of the results in improving public health as well as developing health policy are the tasks of the RSU Institute of Public Health (IPH), founded six months ago, as emphasised by its director, Prof. Gunta Lazdāne. Concluding as to which area of public health is topical and problematic, RSU researchers propose and implement projects on both an international and a national scale in Latvia.

By decision of the RSU Senate, the institute was founded at the end of last year, and the first meeting of the Advisory Board was held this January. Even before the IPH was established, researchers at Riga Stradiņš University (RSU) were leading experts and implemented various projects of social significance.  After the establishment of the institute, a large number of these projects were included as part of the IPH portfolio, facilitating their systematisation, planning and management. At the second meeting of the Advisory Board held in June 2018, where its members, RSU lecturers, researchers and representatives from state institutions assessed the activities of the institute, its current and planned projects.

One of them is the international Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). 120,000 persons aged over 50 in 27 European countries and Israel are surveyed on a regular basis to find out which economic, social and healthcare problems are experienced by inhabitants in this age group and how they change with age, for example, how well-being, communication between family members and one’s mental state tend to change. The study reveals that a dangerous problem among seniors is depression, which has various social and economic reasons. 

On 5 and 6 September, the joint coordination board of the SHARE project, which consists of members from all countries involved, will meet at a conference in Riga. The Latvian representative, Andrejs Ivanovs, leading researcher of IPH, highlights that the time-consuming process of SHARE data collection is currently in progress and further results will be available next March.

IPH also supervises a project implemented by lecturer Anda Ķīvīte on the use of mathematical modelling in limiting the cases of HIV infection. This project is particularly important for Latvia, as our country has one of the highest rankings in case-fatality rate of HIV infection cases in Europe. The project initiated in 2015 will end this autumn, whereas its findings and conclusions will be crucial to develop an suitable health policy and reduce the number of HIV infection cases in Latvia.

An audit of clinical processes and quality systems implemented by RSU has recently ended in Ziemeļkurzeme and Talsi hospitals, which is a good example of cooperation between the university and Latvian hospitals. Daiga Behmane, Deputy Director of IPH and Vice-Dean of the RSU Faculty of Medicine, believes that the methodology could be used not only by the audited hospitals themselves, but also by other Latvian clinics, as well as state or local government institutions which are involved in public health.

Prof. Gunta Lazdāne, Director of IPH, has accumulated fifteen years of experience working in the World Health Organisation. Over the years, contacts have been established with leading experts of European and other countries, who shared their unique knowledge and skills during their visits to Latvia. The professor considers that one of the most important tasks in the healthcare sector in Latvia is to improve the overall knowledge of the public on health, which should be started already at school. For example, pupils in Finland sit an exam in health studies. Estonia also attributes greater importance to this field than the educational programmes in our schools, where health studies tend to be an optional subject, but it is not enough. The head of IPH is particularly concerned about the limited knowledge that young people and the general public have about sexual and reproductive health. National decisions in this field should be made based on research, which RSU hopes to participate in as well.

Daiga Behmane, Deputy Director of IPH, represents Latvia in the newly-created research initiative of EU Member States titled TO-REACH, which creates an international research platform in health systems with the aim to offer the public and decision-makers research-based solutions for the improving of health policy.

IPH has started and will continue to identify current public health issues, conduct research and promote the use of the findings in the decision-making process and the organisation of healthcare. Currently, more than ten research projects have been proposed; three of them are international.