Portugal
All residents in Portugal have access to health care provided by the National Health Service, financed mainly through taxation. Many measures have been adopted to improve the performance of the health system, including public–private partnerships for new hospitals, a change in hospital management structures, pharmaceutical reforms, the reorganization of primary care and the creation of long-term care networks. At the 2013 World Health Assembly, health financing and the impact of the economic crisis on health was the focus of a bilateral meeting between WHO/Europe and the Ministry of Health of Portugal.
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Spotlight on people who risk losing their sight
“Diabetes is a disease that continues to increase, but it is still in the shadows,” says Dr Nino Berdzuli, Director of the Division of Country Health Programmes at WHO Europe. “Although most countries in the WHO European Region carry out eye screening for people with diabetes, opportunities to prevent blindness and vision impairment still are being missed."
