Portugal’s planned 15% subsidy for obesity medicines will leave treatment beyond the reach of many patients, their national association has warned, accusing the government of introducing restrictions that will further limit access.
“We’ll be the laughing stock of Europe,” Carlos Oliveira, president of the Association of Obese and Former Obese Patients of Portugal (Adexo), told Lusa.
“Countries concerned about obesity are subsidising these medicines by 50%, 60% and 100%,” he said.
Oliveira argued that most people with obesity are not candidates for surgery and cannot afford medicines at current prices.
“With a 15% discount, they will still be unable to buy them,” he stressed.
Regulations published today restrict the subsidy to patients enrolled in dedicated hospital obesity programmes, with prescriptions issued by endocrinologists, internal medicine specialists or paediatricians belonging to the relevant hospital team.
For Adexo, this creates another barrier: some hospitals do not have the multidisciplinary obesity teams required under the scheme.
“How will people in those local health units be able to access treatment?” Oliveira asked, stressing that obesity is a chronic disease requiring lifelong care.
He also questioned access for patients treated through other healthcare schemes, including the public employees’ scheme ADSE and banking sector scheme SAMS, who may not be registered with SNS obesity teams.
Family doctors excluded
Oliveira said excluding family doctors undermined Portugal’s integrated obesity care pathway, which had envisaged a role for primary care.
“They are the foundation of care for people with chronic diseases,” he said. “We are completely against this.”
Family doctors have also challenged the rules, warning that they will simply restrict access and overwhelm already struggling hospital consultations with referrals.
Nuno Jacinto, president of the Portuguese Association of General and Family Medicine (APMGF), said the government should acknowledge what he considers the underlying problem: insufficient funding.
“There is no money to subsidise medication for everyone with obesity, and that needs to be stated clearly,” he told Lusa.
Wider support could reach €2 billion
An assessment by medicines regulator INFARMED, released last year, estimated that subsidising the five obesity medicines marketed in Portugal at 90% could cost the State €2 billion — more than its entire spending on outpatient medicines.
The analysis examined several subsidy scenarios. At 15%, it estimated expenditure of €46.8 million in the first year.
For Adexo, however, the proposed contribution remains too small to make treatment affordable for the hundreds of thousands of Portuguese struggling through life with obesity.
Source: SIC Notícias