National Health Council approved in World Health Day

The Government, at a meeting of the Council of Ministers held on April 7, 2016, approved the Decree-Law that establishes the legal framework of the National Health Council, implementing the projected in the Health Basic Law (1990). 

The creation of the National Health Council on World Health Day celebrates one of the commitments of the Program of the XXI Constitutional Government with regard to strengthening citizens’ empowerment in the National Health Service. This commitment aims to ensure the participation of NHS users in the definition of health policy, with the intervention of local authorities and professionals, as well as universities and polytechnic institutes, representatives appointed by the Standing Committee for Social Dialogue, the National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences and the Autonomous Regions, as a way of promoting a culture of transparency and accountability to society.

The National Health Council is an independent advisory body, composed of 30 members, that will ensure the participation of the various scientific, social, cultural and economic entities, in building broad consensus on health policy.

The National Health Council follows the best international practices and reflects what studies in the health area deem as important, by establishing an alliance across the whole society in the definition of a broad vision for the future of the health system.

Source [in Portuguese]: Press release from the Council of Ministers of 7 April 2016