The Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve (CHUA) have announced they will create a Gender Identity and Diversity Department by the end of this year.
“Implementation takes some time because it requires good training in many disciplines and specialties, but we want it to be up and running by the end of this year,” said António Lacerda Sales, Assistant Secretary of State and Health.
Ana Varges Gomes, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve, explained that after a referral is made by the patients family doctor, the Gender Identity and Diversity team of 12 doctors, technicians and psychologists will then monitor “the entire process” of gender change.
The process for gender change is a long one, taking at least two years, often longer, and involving many multidisciplinary consultations such as physcological consultation, hormone treatment and finally the surgical transformation if that is what the patient wants.
The Algarve Gender Identity and Diversity department will be the third one of its kind in Portugal, with the others being in the North of the country, in Coimbra and Porto.
Ana Varges Gomes, says "It is with great joy that we announce this team that will support the entire southern region and give our patients the possibility to receive support and treatment, without having to travel".
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