Portugal's health policy under a financial rescue plan

Under the terms of its current financial rescue plan,
Portugal has launched a number of reforms in its health care sector
which are a combination of cost-containment measures as well as
strategies to introduce greater efficiency into the health system. The
areas of intervention are wide-ranging, including the pharmaceutical
market; prescription practices; fiscal credits applied to private health
expenditures; health professionals and human capital; the public–
private interface in health care; National Health System management;
primary care; hospitals; and public health sub-systems. It will
take some time to obtain a quantitative assessment of these
policies’ effects.