According to the World Bank income level classification, Portugal is considered a high income country.[1] In 2022, Portugal registered a total of 10,270,873 inhabitants with a expected decrease of 9.8% to 9,261,313 by 2050. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 12.3% of the population is between 0-14 years, 68.2% is estimated to be 15-64 years and 19.5% is expected to be 65+ years old.
The healthcare system in Portugal has been submitted to significant transformations over the past years, leading to significant improvements in health indicators such as life expectancy, child mortality rates, and the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Life expectancy in Portugal is estimated to be 82.55 years, reflecting advancements in healthcare access and quality. Infant and child mortality rates have reduced over the years, aligning the country performance with the improvements observed across Europe.[2] [3] [4] There are however challenges, such as the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms.[5]
Furthermore, Portugal is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which leads to new risks to public health. The country is expected to experience frequent heatwaves, decrease of the air quality, and the potential spread of vector-borne diseases with direct implications on the population.[6] Facing these challenges, the Portuguese National Health Service plays a crucial role in addressing these challenges, ensuring universal healthcare coverage that allow the population easier access to healthcare.
Life expectancy in Portugal has improved significantly over the years. The latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates an average of 81.2 years for all the population. The overall for women is 83.9 years and 78.3 years for men.
Child mortality rate (under five mortality rate- U5MR) has decreased over the past five decades. In 1970, 6.9% of all the children die before reaching the age of five, for instance in 1990, 1.5% were affected and in 2021 only 0.3% die before being five years old. At the same time, the U5MR in 1990 in Europe was 1.6% and the world average was 9.3%, however, the rate as improved significantly over the time and the latest data shows a overall of 0.4% in Europe and 3.8% in the world.Regarding infant mortality rate (IMR), from 1970 to 2021 as also decreased, from 5.5% to 0.3%. In similarity, the European and world average has followed the same pattern. The European rate went from 1.3% in 1990 to 0.4% in 2021 and the world rate from 6.4% in 1990 to 2.8% in 2021.
Much of the progress has to do with the improvement of the healthcare system, development of vaccination programs, public health campaigns and education, as well, the economic growth in Portugal.[7]
The maternal mortality ratio in Portugal from 1990 to 2020 had a slight decrease from 15 to 12 respectively. However, the average of the European and world ratio had a significant improvement. From 34 to 8 in Europe and 370 to 212 in the world.[8]
The slight decrease of the maternal mortality ratio may be incorrectly interpreted, nevertheless, the ratio may represent the estimated number of women who die from maternal conditions per 100,000 live births.
By 2021, the GBD in Portugal was mainly attributed to non-communicable diseases, being these responsible for 88% of total deaths in the country and 86% of total disability-adjusted life years (DALYS).[9]
Comparing to data from 1990, the contribution of NCDs to deaths (87.6%) and DALYS (79.7%) has increased. The same has happened to communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional diseases in terms of number of deaths (4.76% of total deaths in 1990), but a decrease in the number of DALYS has been observed since 1990 (7.05% of total DALYS).
| Cardiovascular diseases | Cardiovascular diseases | |
| Neoplasms | Neoplasms | |
| Digestive disorders | Respiratory infections and tuberculosis | |
| Neurological disorders | Neurological disorders | |
| Chronic respiratory diseases | Diabetes and chronic kidney disease | |
| Diabetes and chronic kidney disease | Chronic respiratory diseases | |
| Transport injuries | Digestive diseases | |
| Respiratory infections and tuberculosis | Other non-communicable | |
| Unintentional injuries | Unintentional injuries | |
| Self-harm and violence | Self-harm and violence |
| Cardiovascular diseases | Neoplasms | |
| Neoplasms | Cardiovascular diseases | |
| Mental disorders | Mental disorders | |
| Musculoskeletal disorders | Musculoskeletal disorders | |
| Transport injuries | Respiratory infections and tuberculosis | |
| Other non-communicable | Neurological disorders | |
| Unintentional injuries | Diabetes and chronic kidney disease | |
| Neurological disorders | Other non-communicable | |
| Chronic respiratory | Chronic respiratory | |
| Digestive diseases | Unintentional injuries |
The presented data highlights the high challenges created by metabolic risk factors, including high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and obesity, which have been contributing to the GBD in Portugal. The data provides deep insights of mortality, life expectancy, and health trends, helping to develop public health strategies aimed at reducing the impact of NCDs.
Portugal's National Health Service is responsible for providing healthcare services in public hospital institutions. The healthcare system in Portugal is universal and is made up of three coexisting systems: the national health service, special social health insurance schemes for certain professions (health subsystems) and private health insurance.
The Ministry of Health is responsible for developing national health policy, as well as managing the health subsystems. The Health Regulatory Entity is the independent public entity responsible for regulating the activity of all healthcare providers, whether public, private or social.
The Portuguese healthcare system was ranked number 12 in overall performance by the World Health Organization in a 2000 report ranking the healthcare systems of each of the 190 United Nations member nations. Nonetheless, it ranked number 27 as the most expensive per capita healthcare system.
The National Health Service (NHS) is the system through which the government ensures the right to health protection, as provided for by the constitution. It was created in 1979, through law No. 56/79, of September 15th.
The system is administered by the Central Administration of the Health System (CAHS) and five Regional Health Administrations (RHA). The CAHS is responsible for the central management of financial, human, equipment and facilities resources, as well as the establishment of healthcare policies, plans, regulations and standards. The RHA are responsible for providing health care to the populations of each of the five health regions (North, Center, Lisbon and Tagus Valley, Alentejo and Algarve), as well as for the regional implementation of the national health plan.
As well as being funded by the state, healthcare provided by the NHS is mainly provided by public healthcare facilities: These include:
In addition, the National Health Service also have agreements with private organizations in order to provide complementary health care to its users.
The Ministry of Health also maintains the national health service telephone line, an information service, available every day, 24 hours a day and accessible via telephone (808 24 24 24) or via the internet (www. saude24.pt). This service, provides screening, counseling and referral for illness, therapeutic counseling, public health assistance and general health information. Users who use this line before going to hospital emergency services have priority when they reach them.[10]
In 2020, 10.6% of total government expenditure in Portugal is allocated to health, in comparison to 10.9% in the European Union.[11] This value has a direct relation with the reduction of child and infant mortality rate, maternal ratio, improvement of the national healthcare system, allowing it to be free, universal and accessible to all residents in Portugal.[12]
The Portuguese National Health Plan is an important element for the implementation of health policies in the country since it defines the strategic plan for intervention in the public health system.
The National Health Plan 2020 defines the following health goals to be achieved by 2020:
This plan was initially defined for the period between 2012 and 2016 but later extended to 2020. This extension results from recommendations emitted by the World Health Organization in its report “Health 2020: the European policy for health and well-being”.
The national vaccination program is a universal and free initiative accessible for all the population living in Portugal. It was implemented in 1965 and was updated in September 2020.[14]
Which respects the following principles:
The program aim to protect individuals and the population against diseases with the greatest potential to pose threats to public and individual health and for which there is effective protection through vaccination.
The calendar is currently as follows:
| At birth | 1st dose of hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine | |
| At 2 months | Hexavalent vaccine DTPaHibVIPVHB, 1st dose of DTPa, Hib, VIP, HBV, Pn13, MenB 1 | |
| At 4 months | 2nd dose of DTPa, Hib, VIP (Pentavalent), 2nd dose of Pn13, MenB 2 | |
| At 6 months | 3rd dose of DTPa, Hib, VIP, HBV (Hexavalent vaccine DTPaHibVIPVHB) | |
| At 12 months | 3rd dose of Pn13, 3rd dose of MenB, MenC (single dose), 1st dose of MMR | |
| At 18 months | Pentavalent DTPaHibVIP, 1st booster of DTPa (4th dose), VIP (4th dose), single Hib booster | |
| At 5 years | 2nd booster of DTPa (5th dose), VIP (5th dose), tetravalent DTPaVIP, 2nd dose of MMR | |
| At 10 years | Tetanus and diphtheria (Td) vaccine booster, 2 doses of HPV9 vaccine | |
| Throughout life | Tetanus and diphtheria (Td) vaccine boosters at 25, 45, 65 years, every 10 years thereafter | |
| Pregnant women | Tdap vaccine (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) in each pregnancy | |
| Groups at increased risk | BCG, Pneumo23, ACWY, Hepatitis A (for at-risk groups) |
Portugal is among the European countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, due to its geographical location of greater vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change. These include desertification, drought, forest fires, shoreline erosion due to rising sea levels and increased storms, and the spread of vector-borne diseases.[15]
At the moment, there are several impacts of climate change that are already very visible, for example, Portugal has already lost 15 km2 of territory, swallowed by the sea in recent years, temperatures above 20 degrees in mid-October and long periods of drought, heat waves, or stronger storms and tornadoes. These challenges have direct implications in different areas like public health, agriculture, water supply, and coastal management.
The Portuguese Environment Agency emphasize several key ways in which climate changes will impact the health of the population:
Portugal’s National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change includes comprehensive measures to reduce the impacts of climate change.
The initiatives defined for public health are:
Since climate change is a global problem, decisions regarding both mitigation and adaptation involve actions or options at all levels of decision-making, from the local community level to the international level, involving all stakeholders. national governments.