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Healthcare system, public health, medical news, and wellness updates from Portugal.

Portugal's Childhood Vaccination Holds Above 95%, but Algarve Councils Lag on HPV and Flu Shots

Portugal's Childhood Vaccination Holds Above 95%, but Algarve Councils Lag on HPV and Flu Shots

The DGS annual review for 2025 shows most childhood vaccines above 95% coverage nationally, yet several Algarve councils sit at the bottom of the table — in Aljezur, only 39.5% of 11-year-old boys had the HPV shot.

The Portugal Brief 10 Aug 2026

More Than Half of Portuguese Adults Are Overweight, and the Nutritionists' Chief Blames Politics

More Than Half of Portuguese Adults Are Overweight, and the Nutritionists' Chief Blames Politics

More than half of Portugal's adults are now overweight or obese, and the head of the country's nutritionists says the blame lies squarely with political inaction. Speaking on Friday, 8 August, Liliana Sousa, bastonária (president) of the Ordem dos...

The Portugal Brief 09 Aug 2026

The Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon, Portugal's largest hospital, at night

Three Summer Heat Spells Left an Estimated 680 Excess Deaths in Portugal, INSA Finds

The National Health Institute links three 2026 heat episodes — 16 June, 2–8 July and 23 July — to about 680 more deaths than expected, most among people aged 75 and over. Officials say public warnings and precautions kept the toll below what forecasting models had predicted.

The Portugal Brief 07 Aug 2026

An INEM ambulance, run by Portugal's national emergency medical service, in a Lisbon square

Health Ministry Rewrites a Disputed Pay Order for Emergency Stroke and Heart-Attack Teams

Portugal's health ministry has published Despacho n.o 9696/2026, rewriting how the SNS pays doctors for extra urgent work and revoking a criticised 29 June order. The earlier version had excluded some stroke-unit staff tied to the fast-track 'Vias Verdes' for strokes and heart attacks; the Ordem dos

The Portugal Brief 06 Aug 2026

Portugal's Rare-Disease Registry Adds 155 Conditions in 2025, Reaching 594 Codified Diseases

Portugal's Rare-Disease Registry Adds 155 Conditions in 2025, Reaching 594 Codified Diseases

The DGS added 155 rare diseases to its national coding system in 2025 — the biggest annual jump yet — bringing the registry to 594 recognised conditions and widening the safety net for patients.

The Portugal Brief 05 Aug 2026

The illuminated exterior of Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisbon's main public SNS hospital, seen at night with an emergency-access sign

Health Minister Weighs a Weekly Charge for Patients Who Refuse a Continuing-Care Bed

Ana Paula Martins says she may consider a fee — backed by the national ethics council — for discharged patients who reject an available continuing-care place and stay in hospital. Care providers counter that the real problem is a shortage of beds.

The Portugal Brief 05 Aug 2026

A view of the town of Torres Vedras in Portugal at dusk, white houses with red roofs below a hilltop medieval castle and church

A Torres Vedras Family Health Unit Becomes the First in the SNS to Be Run by a Private Company

The Sao Pedro da Cadeira unit near Lisbon opened on Monday under Knok, a Portuguese telemedicine firm on a EUR2.4 million, five-year state contract, the SNS's first privately managed family health unit. It serves 5,463 patients, with Silves and Lagos next.

The Portugal Brief 03 Aug 2026

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