Latvian lawmakers question €32.95m health cyber security request

Lawmakers were surprised that cyber security accounted for the largest share of the Health Ministry’s urgent funding requests for next year, at €32.95 million. The figures were presented at a joint meeting of parliamentary committees, LSM reported.

The ministry has identified €77.84 million in high-priority needs, Deputy State Secretary for Finance Boris Kļigins told the meeting. Sustainable Development Committee chairman Uģis Mitrevics of the National Alliance said the cyber security request exceeded the amounts sought to cover the shortfall in funding for reimbursable medicines and to vaccinate at-risk groups.

Representatives of the health sector, including the Latvian Rural Family Doctors Association and the Latvian Health and Social Care Workers’ Trade Union, urged the ministry to direct as much funding as possible to patient care and strengthen existing healthcare resources, including in the regions. Kļigins said the cyber security funding was intended for basic registers.

The next-largest request was €23 million to meet obligations for healthcare services received in other European Union and European Economic Area member states. The ministry initially listed €17.54 million to cover the shortfall in funding for reimbursable medicines.

The ministry said that figure was an estimate prepared when it compiled its needs, based on the previous year’s spending. Based on actual spending in 2026, the additional funding needed to cover the reimbursable medicines system’s deficit has since increased. The ministry’s indicative forecast, based on spending during the first eight months of this year, showed an additional €20.2 million was needed this year for reimbursable medicines and materials. The estimate takes into account €5 million in additional funding approved by the government on October 20, as well as planned reallocations from unfulfilled priority measures and other subprogrammes.