Health

Access to a quality health service

Promoting and investing in the physical and emotional health of children and young people and their families, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability, represents an investment in the future, with a major impact on the well-being of families.

Access to Essential Services

6 measures

Promoting access to oral health screenings for all children

What is it?

It is a programme aimed to ensure access for pregnant women, children and young people to a range of dental care in the areas of diagnosis, prevention and treatment, particularly tooth decay and periodontal disease.

Who is covered?
- Pregnant women – under prenatal surveillance in the National Health Service;
- Children aged > 7 – Children aged 2, 3, 5 and 6, with carious lesions in primary teeth;
- Children and Young People – at the age of 4, without conditions; at the age of 7, provided that the first molars have already erupted; at the age of 10, provided that the premolars have already erupted; at the age of 13, provided that the second molars have already erupted;
- Young people aged between 16 and 18 – At the age of 16, provided that they have used the referral for an oral hygiene consultation at the Health Centre or the dentist-cheque when they were 13 and have completed all the treatments (preventive and possibly curative). At the age 18, provided that they have used the dentist-cheque when they were 16 and have completed the treatments;
- Intermediate ages - Children aged 8, 9, 11, 12 and 14 who had access to the dentist-cheque programme in the previous year(s) and completed the treatment plans.

How to apply ?

Pregnant women - The first dentist-cheque is granted in the Functional Unit of the Health Centre where the pregnant woman is being followed. The preventive and curative dental care to be provided to the pregnant woman is carried out at the medical offices of the doctors that participate in the Programme.

Children aged up to 7 - The dentist-cheque is issued to the user by the family doctor, in the Functional Unit of the Health Center where he/she is registered.

How are the dentist-cheques issued?

Each dentist-cheque issued within the scope of Oral Health in Children's Health includes the treatment of one or two primary teeth with cavities.

Children and Young People – They are entitled to the issuing of a referral for an oral hygiene consultation at the Health Centre or the issuing of a dentist-cheque.

Children aged 4 – the dentist-cheque is issued by the family doctor at the child and youth health consultation and it is delivered directly to the person accompanying the child (father/mother/carer).

Children aged 7, 10 and 13 – the dentist-cheques are issued by the Health Centre’s clerk, according to lists provided by the schools of the area covered by the Health Centre, and are delivered by the teacher (1st cycle of basic education) or class director (2nd and 3rd cycle of basic education) to the parents/guardians of the children.

If the Health Centre has an oral hygienist, this professional goes to schools to screen the students of these age groups.

Children who have healthy permanent teeth may be issued a referral for an oral hygiene consultation at the Health Centre.

Children who have permanent teeth with cavities are issued a dentist-cheque.

Young people aged between 16 and 18 – This age group is entitled to the issuing of a dentist-cheque. In this case, the request for the dentist-cheque issuing is made by the young person or the parent/guardian to the clerk of the Health Centre of the user’s residence area, between 1 January and 31 August of the year in which he/she completes the age of 16 or 18.

Intermediate ages - The issuing of the dentist-cheque (maximum one per year) is carried out by the family doctor in the Functional Unit of the Health Centre where the user is registered. The document is delivered directly to the person accompanying the child at the consultation (father/mother/carer).

Responsible entity

Ministry of Health

National Early Childhood Intervention System

What is it?

The National Early Childhood Intervention System integrates an organized set of services under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the Ministry of Education, aimed at children aged between 0 and 6 and their families and its mission is to ensure Early Childhood Intervention.

Early Childhood Intervention can be defined as a set of support measures in the social, educational and health areas, aimed to:

Improve the child's learning opportunities;
Strengthen the skills of carers;
Promote family and community resources.

These actions must be carried out in the children's usual environments (home, crèche, kindergarten, others), during daily routines and activities, in order to promote the child's participation in learning experiences, based on the objectives defined by the family.

Early childhood is a remarkable time of brain development. It is in the early years that development and learning take place most quickly. Therefore, the conditions are created for intervention with the child to contribute to his/her future development.

The first years of a child's life are also a major challenge for the family. Parental and family relationships are building and it is important that the child develops feelings of safety and well-being, and experiences various learning activities rich in stimuli.

Who is entitled?

Children aged between 0 and 6.

How to access

Through referral by the:

Paediatrician;
Family doctor;
Kindergarten teacher, if the child is attending a crèche or kindergarten.

You can also search for the local Early Childhood Intervention Team or the Group of Reference Schools for Early Childhood Intervention, closer to you.

Responsible entity

Social Security Institute - National Early Childhood Intervention System

National Programme for Smoking Prevention and Control

What is it?

It is a National Health Service programme whose goal is to help in the prevention and cessation of smoking habits.

When a person stops smoking, there is usually a decrease in metabolism which can cause a slight increase in weight. With proper care, it will just be a passing phase and the person will soon return to normal.

During the smoking cessation phase, behavioural changes are common: more anxiety, greater irritability, more stress, not knowing what to do with your hands, among others, which can lead to increased food consumption as a form of “compensation”.

With the absence of tobacco, there is also an improvement in taste and smell that can lead to an increase in appetite.

As a way to deal with these fluctuations/changes, you should define some strategies in advance and take care of your eating habits.

Why should you quit smoking?

• To live longer and with a higher quality of life;

• To promote better cardiovascular and respiratory health;

• To have healthier babies;

• To better enjoy the aromas and flavours;

• To have a healthier sexual and reproductive life;

• To improve your personal image;

• To have more money to invest in your well-being;

• To be a role model for others.

For further information, access the portals of the Regional Health Administrations:

Regional Health Administration of the northern region – ARSNorte;

Regional Health Administration of the central region – ARSCentro;

Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo – ARSLVT;

Regional Health Administration of Alentejo – ARSAlentejo;

Regional Health Administration of the Algarve – ARSAlgarve.

Responsible entity

National Health Service

Program Cuida-te +

What is it?

It is a program of the Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth (IPDJ) that aims to promote youth health and healthy lifestyles.

Who is it for?

Young people between the ages of 12 and 25 as the final target population and also the strategic target population, i.e. intermediary actors who have a potentially influencing role in promoting behaviours beneficial to the health of young people, such as health professionals, physical education and sports professionals, youth workers, community intervention professionals, leaders of youth associations and their federations and families, and other young people with as intervenors.

How to access?

In the Program Cuida-te + there are three devices that you can access on your own initiative:

Youth Health Offices;
Non-face-to-face service, namely through the Sexuality Online service and
Youth Health in Portal, both with regard to information on various subjects related to Youth Health, as well as the online space for answering questions asked anonymously, on the IPDJ Portal "Put your doubts here".

Responsible entity

Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ)

Born Citizen Counters

What are they?

The Born Citizen Counters are spaces available in the health units where children are born. In these spaces, it is possible to register the birth of the child and request his/her first Citizen Card, free of charge.

Where to find a Born Citizen Counter?

Born Citizen Counters are available in all hospitals and maternities of the public sector and in some of the private sector.

If there is no Born Citizen Counter available at the health unit where the child was born, you may register the birth online or at a Civil Registration service.

Who may provide for the child’s registration?

The parents;
Any person who has written permission from the parents;
A close relative who has knowledge of the birth;
The director or administrator (or another employee designated by the parents) of the health unit where the child was born or where the birth was reported.

If the parents are not married, the father should be present at the time of registration in order to assume the paternity of the child. If this is not possible, he should do it later.

Necessary documents and information

• Identification documents of the parents

• The child’s name

• Names of the child's grandparents
Responsible entity

Institute of Registries and Notary

Extraordinary regime for the registration and attribution of the Patient Number to the Newborn

What is it?

The administrative simplification programme has been created within the scope of the National Child and Youth Health Programme (Programa Nacional de Saúde Infantil e Juvenil), which is aimed to bring the Health System closer to the citizen.

On an extraordinary basis, whenever civil registration of the newborn via the Born Citizen Counter is not possible until the time of discharge, it is mandatory that the NHS healthcare establishments provide for the:

Registration of the Newborn on webRNU (filling in the User form), with the minimum mandatory data determined by Order no. 1668/2023 of 2 February for the allocation of the National User Number and registration in a Primary Health Care Unit;
Issuing of the Maternity Statement (Declaração da Maternidade) to all newborns, which must include the National User Number of the newborn which, in the case of Portuguese citizens, will be integrated into the future Citizen Card to be issued by the Institute of Registries and Notary (IRN).

The Maternity Statement must include the following details:

The mother's name;
The date, day, time of birth of the newborn;
Identification of the institution where the birth took place;
The name and sex of the Newborn;
The National User Number of the Newborn.

At the time of the Birth Statement (Declaração do Nascimento), the Statement of the Maternity where the birth took place (issued by the health unit and signed by a member of the respective Services) must be submitted to the Institute of Registries and Notary (IRN), which will prove the birth of the Newborn (place, day and time), identify his/her parents (it may only be possible to identify the mother) and the Newborn details (name, sex, date of birth, place of birth), as well as the respective National User Number allocated by the health services.

Who is covered?

All children whose parents are in an irregular residence situation.

Responsible entity

Central Administration of the Health System and the Directorate-General for Health.

See the ACSS/DGS Joint Normative Circular no. 11/2023.