Álvaro Almeida, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting in Porto with national and international experts and the newly appointed Technical Advisory Group of the World Health Organization on artificial intelligence (AI) for health, addressed the opportunities, challenges, and responsible pathways for AI in health systems.
The executive director of the SNS remarked that Porto serves as “an example of the principle that resources must be shared because they are scarce.”
However, “the concrete method of implementation has to be adapted to each region, to each specific case,” he noted.
Álvaro Almeida explained that “the original source is the same, which is the lack of resources, but then the way to manage the problem must be adapted to each region, at each moment, and they are not exactly, or not necessarily, the same solutions that should be applied everywhere.”
Regarding the creation of specialized emergency services where — due to a shortage of professionals — teams need to be shared on a rotating basis, which has sparked criticism and protests, he deferred to the statements made by the Health Minister, Ana Paula Martins, on Tuesday in the Assembly of the Republic.
“The minister was in the Assembly of the Republic on Tuesday and provided a series of details on this subject. Since then, there have been no further updates,” he emphasized.
Ana Paula Martins announced in parliament the upcoming creation of a regional obstetric emergency service in the Setúbal Peninsula, with the Hospital Garcia de Orta in Almada operating permanently and the Hospital de Setúbal receiving cases referred by SNS 24 and INEM.
Speaking at the Health Parliamentary Committee, the minister also noted that a call for the creation of a Maternal and Child Center in the Setúbal Peninsula will be launched in 2026, “which will be located within the perimeter of the Hospital Garcia de Orta.”
Meanwhile, the Health Users’ Committees of the Arco Ribeirinho Sul and the Setúbal Union of Trade Unions called for a protest at the Barreiro hospital against the closure of the maternity unit there.
In a joint statement, users from Barreiro, Moita, Montijo, and Alcochete, along with the Union of Trade Unions, stated that they have always claimed that the rotational closure between emergencies, apart from not solving any issue, would lead to the deterioration and eventual definitive closure of these services.
The National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) also issued a statement warning that “concentrating the regional emergency of gynecology and obstetrics in Almada deprives women throughout the Setúbal Peninsula of nearby care” and that expectant mothers on the southern shore “continue to risk giving birth in ambulances and on roads.”
Experts advising the Government in obstetrics and pediatrics have already identified the emergency services within the National Health Service (SNS) that should operate under a shared team model, which could lead to the creation of five regional emergency services operating simultaneously and without constraints in the areas of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo and Leiria.
