In the first quarter of 2025, 29.7 million transactions were made in the Latvian Medicines Verification System (LZVS), which is slightly more than in the corresponding period of 2024. Two types of transactions are possible in the system – verification or decommissioning of medicine packaging from the system when the medicines reach the patient. Slightly more than 7.6 million packaging of medicines reached the Latvian population in the first quarter of 2025, which is similar to the first quarter of 2024.
In Latvia, 1,184 users – public and hospital pharmacies, wholesalers and medical institutions authorized or entitled to supply medicinal products (hospitals, polyclinics, doctor's practices, dental clinics and practices) have connected to the verification system and checked the safety of medicines.
The proportion of alerts in the first quarter of the total number of transactions reached 0.03%, where reasons are most often related to technical or human errors. In February, the number of alerts increased significantly, as one of the manufacturers performed a blocking operation on packages of a specific batch of medicine, which had previously been successfully decommissioned. Most alerts were generated in pharmacies – 69%, 11% of alerts were generated in pharmaceutical wholesalers, 20% – in hospitals and other healthcare institutions.
Overall, the performance and operation of the LZVS has been stable in the first quarter of 2025. Transactions are performed in the system, and it generates alerts, as required by the system's requirements. Latvian Medicines Verification Organization (LZVO) has no information of potential counterfeits.