Latvia

LATVIA. Area 65,791 km². Population (as of 1/1 1929) 1,895,016 persons; of these, men 884,696 and women 1,010,320. Population density 28.8 persons per 1 km². Before the imperialist war, the population of L. was estimated at 2,552,000 inhabitants; according to the 1920 census, the population decreased by approximately 40% and amounted to 1,596,131 persons. The 1925 census recorded an increase of 248,674 persons (return of refugees) and gave a total figure of 1,844,805 persons; of these, men 859,957, women 984,848. The excess of women over men is, on the one hand, the result of the war, and on the other, the continued emigration to America of the working classes due to difficult living conditions. The natural movement of the population is characterized by the following indicators per 1,000 population. General mortality, natural increase, years: 21.8, 14.6, 7.2; 21.9, 13.7, 8.2; 22.3, 15.3, 7.0; 22.2, 14.9, 7.3; 21.9, 14.7, 7.2; 22.1, 15.4, 6.7; 1928: 20.6, 14.4, 6.2. Compared with 1914, the natural movement of the population in 1928 shows the following shifts. Birth rate has slightly increased (in 1914 it was 19.6); general mortality has decreased (in 1914 it was 16); natural increase has risen. The movement of infant mortality is characterized by the following indicators: per 1,000 births, children under 1 year of age died in 1925 – 107.2, in 1926 – 87.9, in 1927 – 95.7, in 1928 – 96.3. A significant number of so-called 'illegitimate' births is noteworthy; in 1927 and 1928 it amounted to about 8% of all births, and the growth in the number of 'illegitimate' births in recent years is very rapid, which is natural under the conditions of a capitalist state with the double exploitation of women. The administration of public health in L. is concentrated in the Department of Public Health of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Department is divided into 3 sections: 1) central health section, 2) pharmaceutical section, and 3) veterinary section. The central health section is divided into 3 subsections: 1) epidemiological, sanitary, and statistical section; 2) administrative and medical personnel section; and 3) budget section. Local health bodies are district sanitary doctors. L. is divided into 17 sanitary districts, independent of the administrative division. Each sanitary district includes several local self-governments (communes). The district sanitary doctor is subordinate to the Department of Public Health. Riga is separated as an independent organization and is divided into 13 sanitary districts, headed by 7 public health doctors. There are 23 doctors serving the Department of Public Health: 17 district doctors, 3 doctors in the central health section, and 3 police doctors. According to the budget of local self-governments, 18 doctors are maintained. The salary of a district sanitary doctor ranges from 160–200 lats per month; he is prohibited from holding a second job in other institutions and in social insurance funds, as well as private practice. The development of the treatment network in L. can be traced in the following table. Name of institution Number of units Number of beds Coefficient of beds per 10,000 population 1926 1927 General hospitals, including sanatoriums ... 31.3 32.9 33.9 Mental hospitals ... 9.0 9.8 10.2 Tuberculosis hospitals ... 1.6 1.2 1.2 In 1928, there were a total of 130 treatment institutions (hospitals and sanatoriums) in L. with 9,241 beds; of these, state institutions – 15 with 2,966 beds, municipal institutions – 43 with 4,051 beds, public institutions – 30 with 1,547 beds, and private institutions – 42 with 677 beds. In 1928, there were 1,208 doctors in L.; of these, men 898 and women 310. There are 5.9 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants. It must be noted that almost half of the entire medical personnel of L. (685 doctors) is concentrated in the city of Riga; thus, the coefficient of medical service for the remaining population is even lower. The most suffering are the rural districts. Riga has a medical faculty, which graduated 21 doctors in 1925, 132 in 1926, and 104 in 1927. In 1927, a total of 532 persons were studying at the medical faculty. The total number of dentists in L. is 601; pharmacists – 1,084, pharmacy assistants – 335, and midwives – 807. In L. there are a number of philanthropic organizations engaged in organizing health care on a charitable basis: the Latvian Red Cross, the Anti-TB Society, the White Cross Society for the Fight against Venereal Diseases, the German Hospital Society, Jewish societies, the Russian Hospital Society, the 'Mother and Child' Association, and the Association for the Fight against Alcoholism. In the sickness funds of L. in 1928 there were 161,483 members. The total budget of the funds in 1928 amounted to 14,737,692 lats. The state budget for health affairs in 1927 amounted to 2,861,908 lats. Among the sanitary laws and regulations of recent years carried out in L., it is necessary to note the law on the fight against alcoholism (dated 4/IV 1927), the law on aid to leprosy patients (dated 20/IX 1927), the law on the sale of narcotic substances (dated 28/XI 1927), etc. Earlier carried out was the law on compulsory vaccination against smallpox (dated 23/I 1925) and a number of rules on the fight against infectious diseases. In the fight against TB, several sanatoriums and dispensaries have been opened (in Riga, Libau, and other cities; in 1925 Riga gave 21.5 deaths from TB per 10,000 population). In the fight against leprosy there are two leprosoria, in which 198 patients are hospitalized (Riga and Venden). In 1924, L. concluded with Estonia a sanitary convention with the USSR on the protection of borders.