The challenge has been issued to opposition parties to reach an understanding regarding the National Health Service (SNS) we want, what we can achieve, and how we should enhance relationships with other sectors as partners rather than competitors,” stated the minister during a session at the Assembly of the Republic as part of the State Budget debate for 2026.
Ana Paula Martins acknowledged that it “will take time” to “return the SNS to the Portuguese people,” particularly without yielding to entrenched interests, single-minded models, or any specific group.
She emphasized that this task is “a long-distance race” and reversing the decision to end Public-Private Partnerships “was a wrong choice” that should be reconsidered.
“This is a marathon. It requires clarity in the path forward, resilience, persistence, courage, the involvement of professionals, political actors, and, above all, the citizens,” she added.
On Thursday, the President of the Republic proposed a political agreement on the role of the SNS, the social sector, and the private sector in healthcare, aiming for a medium-term framework.
During a speech at ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, marking the end of a conference on the 50th anniversary of the Peripheral Medical Service (SMP), Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa criticized the continuous health policy shifts with each new government.
The head of state noted that the government must decide first if it wants to reach an agreement or not, stating, “even without an agreement, a decision must be made someday: what should be SNS, what should be social sector, what should be profitable private sector – with enough flexibility to consider interactions.”
In her initial remarks, before urging opposition parties to reach a consensus on the SNS, the minister pointed out that the healthcare budget “cannot increase indefinitely” and that lawmakers “must have the courage to acknowledge this.”
“It’s not enough to beat our chests and claim we need more funding,” she asserted, adding, “The issue is not having more money but having money for what is needed and creating a fairer and more efficient healthcare system.”
She provided some healthcare activity statistics for the first six months of the year, noting 10.7 million hospital consultations, 40,000 per day, a 3.8% increase compared to the same period in 2024, 258,000 psychology consultations (up 11.6%), and a 4.6% rise in surgeries (2,000 per day).
Regarding oncology surgery, she reported that the most significant impact was in oncology surgery, with “around 52,000 surgeries in 2025.”
She noted that all three oncology institutes (Porto, Lisbon, and Coimbra) performed more surgeries in 2025 than in 2024, and the median wait time decreased for nearly all tumor types, although “demand is significantly higher at all three.”
In the field of obstetrics, she disclosed that from 2022 to 2025, children were born outside the hospital (ambulance, public way, Primary Health Care, and home), totaling 169, 173, 189, and 154, respectively. Most cases involved pregnant women who had never received prenatal care, lacked a family doctor, were newly arrived in Portugal with advanced pregnancies, couldn’t afford private care, and some couldn’t even speak Portuguese.
“They were not prepared to call for help. Sometimes they don’t even have a mobile phone,” she pointed out, mentioning the government’s dispatch to ensure that available primary care nurses, in coordination with family doctors and obstetricians, can attend and support these women.
Regarding the 2026 State Budget, she acknowledged that the 10.3% cut (886 million euros less) compared to 2025 is based on “an efficiency vision” and emphasized, “We are aware this is a very demanding message for our managers and professionals.”
[News updated at 16:37]
