The Deputy Secretary of State and Health António Lacerda Sales recognized today, June 18, that the year 2021 will be decisive in preparing the future of the National Health Service (NHS) and defended the «transforming path» of Portugal during the Covid pandemic -19.
«The year 2021 will be decisive for preparing the future of the NHS, through the reduction of inequalities and asymmetries. But it is necessary to look at the human capital that we have, increasingly improving working conditions, which is fundamental for the progress of institutions», said António Lacerda Sales, from the Government side during an interview by the CDS-PP on the management of the post-emergency pandemic, in the Assembly of the Republic.
Then, the government official identified five major priorities, in which he highlighted the objective of «ensure vaccination for the entire population», the «management of the risk matrix» – in which he defended that «it is necessary to continue to invest in the reference of incidence and R [transmissibility index] -, the recovery of care activity, the preparation for Winter 2021-22 - in which he emphasized the increase of more than 100 doses of the flu vaccine - and the promotion of the strengthening of the NHS", which guaranteed not runs out of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
«It is therefore essential to understand the last 15 months and the transformative path that Portugal and the Portuguese have taken: a path based on reducing the pressure of health services, strengthening resources and preparing the country for the new reality. It is necessary to face the coming times as decisive», he emphasized.
Lacerda Sales considered that the pandemic "profoundly transformed the life of contemporary society" and that the "future will not be like before", but highlighted the "extraordinary social mobilization" of the Portuguese, the digital advancement in the sector and the recognition of the capabilities of professionals in health.
“We know that there is a lot to be done, but that cannot erase the positive things that have been done. We made the crisis a moment of resilience and resilience," he stressed, responding directly to the initial question made by the CDS-PP by deputy Telmo Correia: "I don't know if we were lucky, but I guarantee that we never hesitated to take measures. We had to take very difficult measures in a scenario where no government has had to take in democratic history».
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