Espicom's in-depth medical device market reports are ideal for executives wanting to understand the key drivers in medical markets and have access to a wealth of statistical data. Each report opens with an outlook section that provides analysis of the market, 5-year market forecasts, national data projections, market outlook and key developments such as regulation, health facilities and government policy. The report also provides extensive background information, population trends, health status, health expenditure, organisation & administration, hospital services, medical personnel, healthcare development, market access information, trade data and essential industry contacts. Included with the report are 3 free quarterly updated outlook reports, enabling you to keep up to date with market developments for a year. Latvia is one of Europe's smallest countries, and faced a difficult transition during the 1990s from being part of the USSR to developing a market economy. Of the three Baltic republics, Latvia has the strongest ties to Russia; a sizeable minority of the population is Russian, and the country has a high level of dependency on Russia for energy supplies and other raw materials. However, since the 1998 Russian economic crisis, tough government reforms have led to an improved economic performance and impressive levels of GDP growth. Latvia is now a full member of the EU, being admitted with the other nine accession countries in May 2004. Latvian medical device legislation is therefore in line with the relevant EU directives.

The healthcare system has undergone a number of reforms since independence. The initial reforms of the early 1990s saw a wide degree of decentralisation. This proved chaotic, and a firmer degree of central control is now in place. The overriding problem for the healthcare system is funding; a system of social insurance was envisaged but has never been introduced, with the result that public healthcare is funded almost entirely from general taxation. As a result, the public sector is able to provide only a strictly defined basket of services; those deemed non-essential are either provided publicly for a fee, or in the private sector. The private hospital sector is tiny, although many clinic services, such as dentistry or cosmetic surgery, are provided privately. Around 80% of the medical device market is supplied by imports. Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands were the leading suppliers in recent years, accounting for almost 50% of imports in 2004. Imports have increased in value terms every year since 1994.