The Government of Portugal will be more attentive to immigrants who live in the country to obtain the user number, the enrollment in the public health system. Currently, the bureaucracy, the lack of standardization in the service and the mismatch of information in the public service are some of the main obstacles to obtaining the document, which is essential to access the health system in Portugal. The number is equivalent to registering with the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS).
The confirmation of a stricter inspection was declared this week to Now Europe by the Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro: “We will be very attentive and verify that the rules are followed and that all immigrants have access to health care, as our law provides,” he said.
Without detailing what kind of action will be taken for the inspection, Pizarro said that the issue has worried the Portuguese government, especially with the current growth in the number of immigrants in the country. Portugal already has 700 thousand foreigners with Residence Authorization (RA) in the country, most of them Brazilians.
Recently, the Portuguese government clarified the criteria for making up the “Número de Utente”. According to the minister, the goal is to make the rules uniform. Immigrants who still don’t have the documentation, such as recent arrivals in the country, can receive a temporary registration. It will be necessary to present, at the nearest health center, only personal data such as name, date of birth, country of nationality and place of residence.
If the immigrant already has the Fiscal Identification Number (NIF), Social Security Number (NISS), and a document that proves residence in the country, he or she receives the definitive registration. The Manifestation of Interest (MI) is a valid document to prove residence in Portugal and guarantees definitive registration.
For those with temporary registration, after 90 days, the registration is automatically converted to permanent, if the citizen presents the documents mentioned above at the health center. If the citizen does not meet the mandatory data, the number becomes inactive, and the process can be restarted.
“We have to be consistent”
The minister acknowledged that many foreigners living in Portugal face difficulties in accessing the service due to bureaucracy. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there were several reports of immigrants who could not obtain the User Number, which prevented them from receiving the vaccine against the virus. Divergent information was the most recurrent problem. The situation took months to be regularized, as shown by Now Europe showed at the time.
Pizarro lists, among the existing bureaucratic problems, the lack of uniformity in the rules and the interpretation of each public official: “This cannot happen, because we need to be coherent with the defense of our values of integration and humanism with the immigrants,” he contextualizes.
Manuel guarantees that all health centers are informed about the criteria for providing the User Number and are able to carry out the procedure. With the number, citizens now have the right to a family doctor, for example, who is responsible for the resident’s periodic follow-up.
On the other hand, Portugal faces a lack of this type of professional, especially in the Lisbon and Algarve regions in the south of the country. The Ministry of Health estimates that 1 in every 4 people living in the Portuguese territory does not have a family doctor.
About the insufficient number of professionals, the minister said that activities are being developed on several fronts, from salary incentives to professionals and training of more family doctors. Other strategies are in progress and should be announced as soon as they are formalized, highlighted Pizarro.
In Portugal, there is a public health system, but it does not offer all services for free. Some services are charged a so-called “user fee” (taxa moderadora). A consultation with a family doctor, who is a general practitioner, costs 4 euros, while a consultation with a specialist costs 7.75 euros.