The President of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque, raised two key questions during the public session of the conference ’50 Years of Autonomy – Health’: “What is the solution for the sustainability of health systems?” and “How can we convince patients that small lesions don’t always require intervention?” The event also featured former Minister of Health Adalberto Campos Fernandes and pathologist Manuel Sobrinho Simões, founder of the Institute of Pathology and Molecular and Cellular Immunology at the University of Porto.
Albuquerque warned of the increase in costs in the sector, stressing that treatments, technology, and new medicines have approved costs and growth is exponential, arguing that it is essential to understand what the solution is for the sustainability of health systems, in a context of growing pressure on the Social State.
Adalberto Campos Fernandes argued for reorganizing the system to focus on prevention and proximity, cautioning that if it only chases costs, it will fail. He warned against falling into the pharmaceutical industry’s trap of focusing solely on treating disease. The former minister pushed for more investment in public health, noting that “for every euro spent on promotion and prevention, we save 10 euros” in treatments and hospital care.
Adalberto warned that costs are set to rise, and rise quickly, urging for more efficient management of resources and care in a situation where half of the Portuguese receive too much care while the other half get too little. He noted it’s easier to manage a population in an island territory like Madeira and suggested dedicating part of the tourist tax to healthcare, reminding that the money has to come from somewhere.
Regarding clinical decision-making in oncology, Manuel Sobrinho Simões warned of the risks of overdiagnosis, arguing that we have to evolve in a very simple way: we cannot use the word cancer without framing its severity, and it is essential to strengthen health literacy to avoid alarmism and unnecessary interventions, stressing the need for greater precision in communication with patients.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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