Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Latvia (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee notes the information supplied in the Government's first report.

1. In order to enable it to examine the application of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the following legislation and regulations referred to in its report: (i) "Medical Law", 20 August 1994; (ii) "Certification Regulations for Registered Nurses, Midwives, Physicians' Assistants and Laboratory Technicians", 4 July 1995; (iii) the "Regulations of Registration of Nurses"; and (iv) any collective agreement applicable to nursing personnel.

2. Nevertheless, the Committee already notes from the Government's report and the information forwarded by the World Health Organization (WHO) a major problem of general application of the Convention, in particular with respect to the following provisions:

Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2(b), of the Convention, read in conjunction with Article 5, paragraph 2, Article 6, paragraph (a), Article 7 and point V of the report form. The Committee notes that according to the Government the number of nurses in 1995 in comparison with 1994 has decreased for 2,364 persons for the following reasons: (i) low salaries; (ii) low socio-economic situation; and (iii) low prestige of the profession. Meanwhile, 393 nurses were formally unemployed as of 1 June 1995.

Moreover, the Committee notes the great concern expressed by the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) concerning the decline of nursing care in the country due to low salaries, the low socio-economic situation and the low prestige of the profession. According to the WHO, the trend is especially worrisome since the needs of the population for nursing care are increasing. With the growing number of elderly, a rise in chronic diseases, and a growing need for health promotion and disease prevention in the communities far more nurses are needed to meet national health targets.

As concerns overtime remuneration, the Committee notes that the Labour Code provisions which envisage a payment of not less than a double amount are, in practice, often not taken into account by employers. It also notes that no collective agreement has been concluded in respect of nurses' working conditions.

In addition, the Committee notes the Government's indication that nurses' occupational safety and health conditions are bad, with a lack of adequate protection against some occupational risks such as contagious diseases or radiations.

The Committee reminds the Government of the general obligation of ratifying States, under this Convention, to provide, within the resources available for health care as a whole, the quantity and the quality of nursing care necessary for attaining the highest possible level of health for the population. It requests the Government to indicate the measures which have been taken or are contemplated in order to meet this obligation and to comply with the aforementioned provisions of the Convention, in particular with regard to: (i) the formulation, adoption and application - in consultation with the employers' and workers' organizations concerned - of a coordinated general health programme aimed at improving the level of health of the population; and (ii) the general improvement - including by means of legislation, collective bargaining or other practical measures - of the nurses' working and safety and health conditions, so as to attract persons to the profession and retain them in it.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 1997.]