Portimão City Council increases funding for medicine subsidies

The municipality of Portimão signed yesterday, September 9, in the Salão Nobre dos Paços do Concelho, a Collaboration Protocol with representatives of all pharmacies in the municipality within the scope of the municipal social support measure of Co-participation of Medicines.

The new protocol stipulates an increase in the amount allocated to each of the municipality's 12 pharmacies to 5,000 euros per year, a decision justified by the population's growing difficulties in meeting expenses, particularly those related to the purchase of medicines.

This will also allow the measure to be extended to more residents, as the maximum income for accessing this social support, in force since 2014, is now the equivalent of the national minimum wage, instead of the previous 1.5 times the Social Pension.

This decision by the local authority represents a consistent response to the municipality's concern to support the population in meeting the growing needs and the emergence of new forms of poverty and social exclusion that affect citizens who, until recently, were integrated into adequate levels of inclusion and income.

It should be remembered that when the measure was created in 2014, the amount was 2,000 euros, a figure that was significantly increased in 2023, within the scope of the application of exceptional measures to support the population, approved at a meeting of the Chamber and Municipal Assembly with a view to minimizing the effects of the economic crisis, with an amount allocated to pharmacies of 4,000 euros per year, with the amount now being agreed upon at 5,000 euros per year and the amount being increased by a further 1,000 euros.

The Medication Co-Payment social support measure aims to support families in a more vulnerable social and economic situation. To access this benefit, the applicant must be over 18 years of age or an emancipated minor, a Portuguese citizen or equivalent, resident and registered in the municipality for at least five years, and require a fixed monthly medication, as certified by a medical certificate.

You cannot be a beneficiary of other medication support, nor have debts to the municipality of Portimão or the Portimão Municipal Water and Waste Company ( EMARP ), and you can access this measure through the services of the Housing, Social Development and Health Division.

The benefit granted corresponds to a 100% financial contribution to the part that falls to the citizen in the acquisition of medicines, upon medical prescription, always in accordance with the current Cooperation Protocol with Pharmacies and in accordance with the Municipal Co-participation Regulation for Medicines.

Support under this measure, which in August of this year covered 124 active beneficiaries, is annual and renewable, by completing the application available at the Housing, Social Development and Health Division and on the municipal website through the Portimão City Council's online channel "+ Fácil", through which it is possible to streamline the entire process, simplifying the lives of residents.

It is also worth noting that this Collaboration Protocol, signed yesterday between the municipality of Portimão and representatives of all pharmacies in the municipality, is a result of the new Municipal Co-payment Regulation for Medicines. It was approved at the City Council Meeting on June 19, 2024 (resolution no. 423/24) and at the Municipal Assembly, at the 2nd Meeting of the 3rd Ordinary Session, held on July 2, 2024, and was subsequently published in the Official Gazette on August 1, 2024.