“In a global landscape characterized by rising challenges such as population aging, increased prevalence of chronic diseases, rapid technological advancements, and the need to ensure equitable access to healthcare, it is essential to strengthen inter-institutional and intersectoral cooperation to respond in an integrated and sustainable manner to the new health and progress challenges of the country,” advocate the initiative’s promoters in a statement.
To the signatories of the “Declaration for Health,” which will be signed at the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, “cooperation between different entities is key to building truly sustainable, innovative, and resilient health responses capable of placing people at the center of decisions.”
The document represents “a commitment to building a future in which health is consolidated as a universal and accessible right, contributing to healthy longevity, people’s quality of life, and the humanization of care.”
The entities establish “a broad consensus” around the principles of the document, with the “clear purpose” of “jointly building a more sustainable, inclusive, and fairer health system, placing health at the center of the country’s social and economic development.”
In line with the principles of the declaration, they advocate that “the proximity and reach of healthcare play a fundamental role in promoting equity, health literacy, and solutions adapted to territorial specificities and local realities.”
The document also highlights the importance of evaluating the system’s performance not only by reducing mortality but also by actively promoting health and adopting effective preventive policies.
It also defends the need to integrate health into all public policies and to foster the sharing of knowledge, innovation, sustainability, and territorial cohesion, actively involving local communities, municipalities, social organizations, schools, and associations.
The signing of the “Declaration for Health” concludes the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the National Association of Pharmacies, bringing together institutional partners and national and international signatory entities.
Among the signatories are associations representing hospital administrators, public health physicians, private hospitalization, pharmaceutical distributors, pharmacies, informal caregivers, the pharmaceutical industry, students, and young pharmacists.
The document is also signed by the Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation, the Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal, the Portuguese Business Confederation, the Portuguese Council for Health and Environment, Egas Moniz School of Health & Science, the School of Health Sciences and Technologies at the Lusófona University and the National School of Public Health.
The Faculties of Health Sciences of the University of Beira Interior and the University Fernando Pessoa, the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Algarve, the Faculties of Pharmacy of the Universities of Coimbra, Lisbon, and Porto, and the University of Évora are other signatories of the document.
The professional orders of Dentists, Nutritionists, Psychologists, Nurses, Pharmacists, Biologists, the National Federation of Chronic Disease Associations, the Forum Health XXI, the Health Cluster Portugal, the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto, the University Institute of Health Sciences, the Portuguese Society for Health Literacy, and the Packaging and Medication Waste Management Society also subscribe to the document, among others.
