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Healthcare

Healthcare system, hospitals, and medical services in Portugal.
The Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon on a sunny day, framed by pink oleander blossoms

The Testamento Vital (Living Will) and RENTEV in Portugal in 2026 — A Practical Guide to the Diretiva Antecipada de Vontade, the Health-Care Proxy, Lei 25/2012, the Five-Year Validity and How Foreign Residents Register One

A testamento vital lets any adult set out in advance the medical care they would accept or refuse if they could no longer speak for themselves — and name a proxy. A practical guide to the DAV, the free RENTEV registry, Lei 25/2012 and how foreign residents register one.
The Portugal Brief
A doctor talking with a mother and child in a clinic, illustrating SNS vaccination and primary care in Portugal

Getting Vaccinated in Portugal in 2026 — A Practical Guide to the Programa Nacional de Vacinação, the Free SNS Vaccines, the Boletim de Vacinas, Catch-Up Shots for New Residents and the Annual Flu and COVID Campaigns

Portugal runs one of the world's most comprehensive free immunisation programmes through the SNS. Here is how the Programa Nacional de Vacinação works, how new residents and their children plug into it, where the digital boletim de vacinas lives, and how the seasonal flu and COVID campaigns run.
The Portugal Brief