Slimību profilakses un kontroles centrs – EPIET

Contact person

Ieva Rimsane
Tel. + 371 67081520

Larisa Savrasova
Tel. + 371 67081523

Description of the institute

The Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDPC) is supervised by Ministry of Health. It is seated in Riga, Latvia. The goals of the CDPC of Latvia are to strengthen Latvia’s public health system and prevent diseases, including infectious and rare diseases, implement national public health policy in the field of epidemiological safety and disease prevention, and to ensure the implementation and coordination of health promotion policies. CDPC is the Competent Body for collaboration with ECDC.

Functions of the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control:

• perform epidemiological surveillance and monitoring of infectious diseases, registration, investigation thereof, collection of statistical data on infectious diseases, to organise measures for prevention of infectious diseases and limiting the spread thereof
• participate in the management of emergencies and prevention of epidemic (pandemic) threats
• plan, coordinate and monitor implementation of the immunisation program, to plan vaccination of the population, to compile vaccine orders by bodies responsible for vaccination and prepare vaccine orders for medicinal product wholesalers, to provide vaccination monitoring and preparation of statistical data, to perform epidemiological investigation of cases of vaccination related complications
• establish and develop national information and monitoring systems for HIV, HBV, HCV and other infections and coordinate the operation of these systems
• organise storage, inventory and distribution of immunobiological preparations to medical treatment institutions
• cooperate with state and local government authorities, non-governmental organisations, individuals and international authorities in the field of epidemiological safety by providing exchange of information and experience, training and implementation of joint projects
• ensure cooperation with the World Health Organization, the European Commission, ECDC and public health authorities of other countries in the epidemiological surveillance issues of infectious diseases and other epidemiological safety issues, to provide maintenance of the functioning of the Early Warning and Response System and its coordination in the state
• develop methodological recommendations and provide methodological support to medical treatment institutions, local governments and other authorities in the field of epidemiological safety
• acquire, compile, process and analyse statistical information on public health and health care
• perform the public health monitoring
• ensure the function of the state specialised centre for the membership in the European information network on drugs and drug addiction (Reitox) maintained by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
• exchange information about risk assessment and control of new psychoactive substances, to ensure the information exchange between the state specialised centre and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction on the production, illicit trafficking and use of new psychoactive substances and preparations containing new psychoactive substances
• monitor non-infectious diseases, as well as to evaluate the environmental factors which may affect the health of the population.

Training opportunities

Currently the centre provides only EPIET-MS track fellowship. Fellows are based and trained in the Infectious Disease Risk Analysis and Prevention Department. The department is responsible for infectious diseases surveillance, investigation of infectious disease outbreaks, supervision and coordination of immunisation policy in the country etc. The Department provides most of ECDC National Focal Points and Operational Contact Points functions in the country.

EPIET MS-track fellows take part in the department daily work. Tasks include surveillance data management and analysis, investigation of foodborne and other outbreaks, presenting and discussion of surveillance data at weekly round table meetings, development of evidence-based guidelines, recommendations, suggestions for amendment of legislative acts, participation in surveys, presentations for health professionals, participation in public health student’s trainings, and interviews to mass media etc.

Training supervision

The main supervision at Infectious Disease Risk Analysis and Prevention Department is provided by senior epidemiologist of the Infectious Disease Surveillance and Immunisation unit Ieva Rimsane,  head of the Infectious Disease Surveillance and Immunisation unit Larisa Savrasova and director of the Department Jurijs Perevoscikovs.

Language requirements

Latvian, English

Training history

New site for EPIET MS-track since 2013