Latvia Severe Asthma Index

Latvia is the lowest scoring in terms of Policy Context, having no severe asthma guidelines, no general asthma strategy, a lack of alignment of national care guidelines with international guidelines, and a lack of reporting to severe asthma registries. However, Latvia shows the second highest level of tobacco control laws. Latvia has one of the lowest scores in terms of Health System Characteristics, which is attributable to having the highest average number of days spent in hospital due to asthma and a relatively high level of annual asthma-related hospitalisations. In spite of these results, Latvia’s score in Disease Burden is slightly above the average, with the third lowest societal cost attributable to severe asthma, the fourth lowest number of DALYs attributable to asthma, and the second lowest percentage of deaths attributable to asthma. The highest rate of tobacco use, and a relatively high adult obesity rate limit Latvia from scoring higher in this category.