Luís Montenegro addressed journalists after participating in a conference at Culturgest, where he highlighted the actions of the current president of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD), Paulo Macedo, who served as Minister of Health from 2011 to 2015.
The Prime Minister once again dismissed claims that his government is planning cuts to the National Health Service (SNS), emphasizing that the overall budget for SNS has increased from eight billion euros ten years ago to the current 18 billion euros, marking “an enormous effort.”
“Contrary to what is being said, the path does not involve cutting assistance or reducing resources allocated to health units,” he stated.
Instead, the goal is to introduce “greater rigor and, possibly, also more favorable negotiations with the State’s main suppliers, whether they are equipment suppliers, medication providers, or even human resource services,” he declared.
Facing the press, the head of the government aimed to emphasize that one of the main objectives is “to make the best possible deals” with the State’s suppliers. In this context, he even cited Paulo Macedo as an example in this regard during his tenure as Minister of Health.
“During his term, we managed to reduce our medication bill by renegotiating purchasing conditions, notably also encouraging the use of generic drugs,” he mentioned as specific examples.
For Luís Montenegro, “there are measures that can be implemented in the SNS with greater potential to generate savings and optimize financial resources.”
“This is what we aim for,” he said, before also addressing the issue of combating fraud in the SNS.
“It was no coincidence that we already decided, in the Council of Ministers, to create an anti-fraud unit within the SNS, precisely to ensure the appropriate use of investments,” he added.
