The Portuguese Association of Public Service Dentists (APOMED-SP) applauded this Sunday the “effort of the Ministry of Health” to improve oral health care in Portugal, just hours after the union called for the minister’s resignation.
The association “recognizes and publicly expresses the efforts of the Ministry of Health and the Executive Board of the SNS with the commitment previously made in the effort to improve oral health care in Portugal”, says the president of the association in a statement sent to Lusa.
The association highlights that it has met with the SUS Executive Board and says that “important steps have been taken in the implementation of strategies that aim to facilitate the population’s access to oral health care within the scope of the SUS”.
According to President Antonio Pereira da Costa, the advances include “the guidelines contained in the manual for the creation and development of Oral Health Services, as well as the commitment to the effort in the process of hiring dentists for the SUS”.
The association’s position comes just hours after the Dentists’ Union (SMD) accused the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, of lack of respect, after successive cancellations of meetings, demanding her resignation.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the president of the SMD said that the resignation was a very considered decision, and the union came to the conclusion that it was “the only path left”.
The most recent situation happened at the end of October, when a meeting with Ana Paula Martins was scheduled for the 22nd.
“Forty-eight hours before this meeting (…) I receive a call from an advisor at 4:30 in the afternoon saying that there will be no meeting. Without any argument, without any justification and on top of that, what surprises us most is that there was no alternative or other date scheduled”, stated João Neto.
In the opinion of the union president, “this is disrespectful to the union” and is “a sign that the minister does not want to talk to dentists”.
Also read:
