Finland’s growing interest about Health Tourism in Latvia
Industry News
Health tourism is familiar to many Finns. They often travel abroad for dental care, eye surgeries, plastic surgeries, orthopaedic operations, facials. Popularity is gained also by annual dental check-ups and treatments provided by spas, also major surgical operations. Finns also choose to go abroad for rehabilitation and to get expert support in their rehabilitation process.
Statistics show that every year more than 15 000 people from abroad chooses exactly Latvia for their medical treatments. Most popular countries from which people are coming are England, Estonia, Lithuania and Russia. Yet Latvia is also popular with Germans, Americans and Swedes.
In addition to plastic surgery, the list of the most popular services of private clinics and hospitals in Latvia includes oral health care, obesity surgeries, various eye surgeries, orthopaedic surgeries, varicose veins surgeries and treatments for skin diseases.
Recently an article about Health Tourism in Latvia was published in the Finnish versatile media platform WEMATCHU.
Why do Finns choose Latvia?
For some time now Estonia has been a familiar destination for Finns for health tourism, the easily accessible transportation makes it simple to travel there. Nevertheless, Latvia is just as easily accessible and Riga is just a few hours’ drive from Tallin by car or a bus.
People choose Latvian medical services because of their good value for money. In addition, clients value the professionalism of care and quick access to services. Private clinics also provide post-operative full board and accommodation in a well-equipped hotel-type ward with all amenities. Clinics offer transparent price policy with all the information available online.
Also protecting patients’ privacy is an honour. Due to the large number of foreign clients arriving for treatments and procedures each year, clinic and hospital staff are accustomed to communicating with clients from around the world and have good English and Russian language skills.
During the corona pandemic, the popularity of various remote consultations has grown strongly. All Latvian clinics offer the opportunity for remote consultation for those considering the procedure or treatment. Some clinics offer it for free.
There are also possibilities for cost reimbursement from your health insurance. When applying for treatment in Latvia, it is good to remember that Latvia is an EU country. A person with Finnish health insurance is free to go to another EU or EEA country for treatment and to apply for Kela compensation for the treatment afterwards.
More information (in Finnish):