The data comes from a preliminary study conducted by the National Authority for Medicines and Health Products (Infarmed) at the request of the Ministry of Health to analyze the financial impact of subsidizing these medications.
On the day the National Program for the Prevention and Management of Obesity (PNPGO) was published, Ana Povo told the Lusa agency that this plan had been in development since the beginning of the year, and at that time, the subsidy for some of these drugs was being considered.
“Therefore, we asked the responsible entity, Infarmed, to conduct a preliminary study on the financial impact of implementing this measure to see the health gains for the public,” explained Ana Povo.
The preliminary results revealed that if a 90% subsidy was applied to all currently available medications, the State would incur a cost of two billion euros.
It would be a “burden on the State higher than the total current outpatient drug expenses,” considering the more than 1.6 million people with obesity in Portugal (about 16% of the population), she said to Lusa.
In 2024, the National Health Service spent 1.6838 billion euros on subsidizing medications that patients purchase at pharmacies, according to the latest Infarmed report.
Currently, there are five medications available in the Portuguese market for the treatment of obesity, all requiring a prescription and not subsidized by the NHS: Mounjaro (Tirzepatide), Wegovy (Semaglutide), Saxenda (Liraglutide), Mysimba (Bupropion + Naltrexone), and Orlistat 120 mg.
Ana Povo emphasized that “even restricting the subsidy of medication to a population with obesity grades II and III, the expense would be over 600 million euros per year,” a figure around four times higher than “all current spending on cerebro-cardiovascular diseases in Portugal, which is approximately 115 million euros.”
“This compels us to provide a response to these people, who cannot be left behind, but also to work on a sustainability model to not jeopardize the entire health system,” she underscored.
The Ministry of Health is now awaiting “more detailed studies from Infarmed,” the official said, adding that the current consideration is to follow other European countries and subsidize only certain medications.
“Not all, but some. That’s what we are now working on with Infarmed,” she highlighted.
The Ministry of Health emphasizes that no European country currently subsidizes all these medications.
According to the order published today that creates the PNPGO, Infarmed should, within a month, present a technical study evaluating the subsidy of these medications to support the decision on an exceptional subsidy regime.
Regarding the PNPGO, Ana Povo stated that it “will strengthen the response to this public health problem,” also determining the implementation of integrated care for people with obesity within the NHS.
In Portugal, obesity affects 28.7% of adults and overweight 67.6%.
In 2022, childhood obesity affected 13.5% of children between six and eight years old, and overweight was 31.9%.
Currently, overweight represents 7.5% of mortality in Portugal and is the second risk factor contributing most to the disease burden in Portugal.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reports that 10% of total health expenditure in Portugal is aimed at treating diseases related to overweight, with a global impact of 3% on the gross domestic product.
