“I have long been advocating for the need to save the National Health Service (SNS), and saving it means doing two things. One is to urgently address issues such as emergency services closed on weekends, an unimaginable setback. The other is to attract quality human resources,” argued the candidate.
Speaking during a visit to the Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology at the University of Porto (IPATIMUP), António José Seguro emphasized that the SNS must offer attractive career paths and remuneration statuses to retain skilled doctors, nurses, and technical support staff.
He added that there is significant competition with the SNS, both from private entities and from other countries that offer better remuneration for Portuguese doctors.
“The key is to understand that healthcare in Portugal owes much to the SNS, and true universal healthcare in Portugal will only exist with a quality SNS. Quality means providing timely consultations and surgeries and not closing emergency services, thereby facilitating access,” he highlighted.
Health, as one of the country’s priorities, must be anchored in a clear vision, he argued, noting that the country cannot have 100 priorities; there must be a focus on a few to effectively allocate resources.
In his view, the country is regressing in several sectors, particularly in housing and healthcare access, and the Portuguese people feel this.
“It’s as if the State, at a certain point, was opening fissures,” he remarked.
António José Seguro asserted that at certain times, the nation must come to an agreement because there are specific issues affecting people’s lives that need to be addressed.
“I know that the President of the Republic does not govern, but he has a responsibility to consistently draw political actors’ attention to what is essential, and what is essential is solving people’s problems,” he concluded.
