Health Systems in Transition

Health systems in transition

Portugal

week. Finally, 28.3% of men and 16.4% of women consumed tobacco daily or

occasionally, being that prevalence higher among those aged 25–34 (45.6% men

and 25.1% women); and 33.8% of men and 5.3% of women reported binge

drinking, which was especially prevalent among the youngest (51.9% of men

and 13.7% of women aged 25–34 years) (INSA, 2016).

1.4.3 Immunization rates

Portugal has high immunization rates among those aged 5–14 years. In 2014,

at age 7, 95.7% of Portuguese children were immunized against measles and

95.9% were immunized against polio. Also, high rates were recorded for

immunization against tuberculosis (98.6%), Hepatitis B (98.5%), diphtheria,

tetanus and pertussis (95.7%) and meningococcal infections type C (98.4%).

Similarly, for those at age 14 years, measles and polio immunization rates were

97.9% (DGS, 2015a). Introduced into the National Immunization Programme

in 2008, the vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) is administered

only to girls in Portugal. In 2014, data showed that girls born between 1992

and 2000 had high immunization rates against HPV, ranging from 85% to 93%

(DGS, 2015a).

1.4.4 Oral health

The index of decayed, missing or filled teeth at age 12 in Portugal was above

the EU15 average in 2000, but has decreased ever since. In fact, Portugal has

already achieved the 2020 WHO goal of having a decayed, missing or filled

teeth index at age 12 years below 1.5 (1.18 in 2013, with a decreasing trend since

2000 from 2.95). In 2013, 51.8% of children aged 12 had healthy gums, which

constitutes a remarkable improvement since 2006, when it was only 26.1%

(DGS, 2015a).