Contributo para a história do planeamento da saúde em Portugal: Contribution for a historical overview on health planning in Portugal

This article intends to give a historical overview on health planning in Portugal, based on a literature review. It describes the emergence and evolution of health planning, planning agents, main issues, integration in strategic multisectorial planning and the most important theoretical guidelines. This review identifies the health planning process evolution, which evolved to a strategic planning health gains oriented and, most recently, towards an acknowledgement that health determinants must be addressed in all policies.
This review will take us on a historical journey from the dictatorship period to the present day, with special attention to some strategic planning documents and analyzing how political cycles often negatively influence the practical implementation on health planning strategies.