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Health systems in transition
Portugal
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Many of the planning, regulation and management functions are in the
hands of the Minister of Health. The two state secretaries have responsibility
for the first level of coordination, under delegation by the Minister of Health.
The Ministry of Health comprises several institutions: some of them under
direct government administration; some integrated under indirect government
administration; some having public enterprise status; a Health Regulatory
Agency (HRA) formally independent from the Ministry of Health in its actions
and decisions; and a recently consultative body: the National Health Council
(created by Decree-Law No. 9/2016, of 23 August 2016).
The following central services are under the government’s direct
administration, which implies that they are hierarchically run by the Ministry
of Health.
•
The Secretariat-General for Health (
Secretaria-Geral da Saúde
)
,
which provides technical and administrative support to the other
sections of the Ministry, coordinates their work, and provides assistance
to staff within various government offices. It also gives support to
other institutions, services and bodies not integrated within the NHS,
concerning internal resources, legal advice, information and public
relations.
•
The Inspectorate-General of Health-related Activities (
Inspecção-
Geral das Actividades em Saúde
)
, which performs the audit, supervision,
and disciplinary function in the health sector, both in NHS institutions
and services, and in private institutions.
•
The Directorate-General of Health (
Direcção-Geral da Saúde
, DGH)
,
which plans, regulates, directs, coordinates and supervises all health
promotion, disease prevention and health care activities, institutions
and services, whether or not they are integrated into the NHS. It is also
responsible for public health programmes, quality and epidemiological
surveillance, health statistics and studies.
•
The Directorate-General for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours
and Dependencies (
Serviço de Intervenção nos Comportamentos
Adictivos e nas Dependências
)
, which promotes the reduction of both
legal and illegal drugs consumption, the prevention and treatment of
addictive behaviours, and the decrease of dependencies.