The FNAM wants public health in Alentejo and Algarve without merging with Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, although the Ministry of Health, wants to reorganise the Public Health map and merge.
The National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) have spoken out against the merge, saying “the Ministry of Health led by Ana Paula Martins, despite being in management, is trying to move forward with a reorganisation of the Public Health (SP) map, which violates the Law and harms the population, by limiting access to health care”.
According to the FNAM, this idea involving “merging two regions”, Alentejo and Algarve, with “the already deficient region of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, which has only a quarter of the doctors in SP, will further aggravate inequalities in the South of the country”.
The current five regional health delegations - North, Center, Lisbon and Tagus Valley, Alentejo, Algarve - would become “three regional health delegations (North, Center, South)” under this proposal from the ministry, alleged the FNAM.
This is “a serious attack on the decentralised organisation of health care provision in Portugal, an affront to the populations of Alentejo and Algarve and to Public Health doctors, which presupposes the existence of a Regional Health Delegate, with the functions of a Health Authority”, the statement says.
This “merger attempt”, argued the FNAM, violates Decree-Law No. 54/2024, of September 6, “as it disregards the specificities of two regions that need autonomy to respond effectively to their realities”.
“It will accentuate inequalities in the provision of health services, perpetuating the lack of access to adequate care and limiting the capacity for a response close to local populations.”
The Alentejo and Algarve are regions with “an extreme shortage of doctors and other health professionals, where the population has limited access to specialised services”, say the National Federation of Doctors, noting that, in addition, they face “geographic dispersion and seasonality”.
These territories “cannot continue to be treated as mere extensions of the capital, nor as simple summer destinations, which only matter when the floating population increases, the populations of these regions deserve respect and SP services that meet their needs”.
In the statement, FNAM demanded respect for the law and the Statute of the National Health Service (SNS), through the maintenance of the Regional Health Delegations.
What is needed is to “ensure that Alentejo and Algarve maintain their own structures and that decisions on Public Health are taken by those who truly understand local needs, in full respect for their regional autonomy”.
Source https://www.algarveprimeiro.com/
