Portugal recorded 85.764 births in 2023, 2.328 more than in the previous year, according to data from “heel prick tests”, which cover almost all babies born in the country.
For the second year in a row, Portugal surpassed the barrier of 80.000 births, after the historic drop in birth rates in 2021, the year in which Portugal recorded the lowest number of births (79.217).
According to data from the National Neonatal Screening Program (PNRN), released today by the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Lisbon was the district with the most “heel prick tests” carried out in 2023, totaling 25.805, plus 963 compared to 2022, followed by Porto, with 15.456 (201 more), Setúbal, with 6.904 (531 more) and Braga, with 6.275 tests carried out, 132 less.
The lowest number of “heel prick tests” carried out was observed in the district of Portalegre, with 554, 30 less than in 2022, Bragança, with 594, 20 more, and in Guarda, with 646 tests, 34 more, according to the coordinated program by INSA, through its Neonatal Screening, Metabolism and Genetics Unit, of the Department of Human Genetics.
November was the month that recorded the highest number of “foot tests” last year (7.779), followed by August (7.661), January (7.649), October (7.623), May (7.506), March (7.196), September (7.170), June (7.053), July (7.034), December (6.686), February (6.220) and April (6.178).
According to data from PNRN reports, consulted by Lusa on the INSA website, the number of babies studied, between 1984 and 2008, always exceeded 100 thousand, with the highest record being in the year 2000 (118.577).
The “foot test” is carried out from the third day of a newborn's life, by collecting a few droplets of blood from the child's foot, and currently allows the detection of 27 diseases, almost always genetic, such as phenylketonuria or congenital hypothyroidism. , whose children can benefit from early treatment.
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