Liberal party launches debate series with former health minister as first speaker
The Iniciativa Liberal is kicking off a new series of public discussions today in Lisboa, with the Serviço Nacional de Saúde and its future pressures taking centre stage. The first session brings in Adalberto Campos Fernandes, the former health minister now tasked by President António José Seguro with coordinating the national Pacto Estratégico para a Saúde.
The event runs this evening at the Pavilhão de Portugal, starting at 16h00 and scheduled until 19h30. It marks the first of what party leaders say will be regular forums — held every three months — designed to draw civil society into policy debates rather than keeping talks within parliamentary walls.
A Socialist in a Liberal forum
Mário Amorim Lopes, the Iniciativa Liberal's parliamentary leader, told the Lusa news agency that the choice of Campos Fernandes was not about courting political favour with the Presidency. It was, he said, about pragmatism over ideology.
Campos Fernandes, though a Socialist, has argued that the health system needs contributions from the public, private and social sectors. The Liberal party sees that as proof that ideological divides can be bridged when the discussion turns to fixing healthcare.
The former minister opens the programme with a lecture on the challenges facing the system. That lecture will touch on the same ground he has covered as coordinator of the Pacto Estratégico para a Saúde — a presidential initiative launched in 2025 to build consensus around the long-term future of the SNS. The pact has held consultations with medical orders and health agencies through 2026, though no final report has yet been made public. Critics from the Portuguese Communist Party have already warned that the initiative could open the door to further private interests in healthcare.
Two panels, two angles
After the opening address, a panel moderated by Liberal MP Joana Cordeiro will examine access to care "at the right time." Francisco Goiana da Silva, a former executive board member of the SNS who now works with a health digital startup, joins the discussion alongside Miguel Sampaio Peliteiro, a doctor at Hospital de São João in Porto.
The second half of the afternoon turns to technology. Health economist Pedro Pita Barros, a professor at Nova School of Business and Economics, will speak on sustainability and artificial intelligence in healthcare. Pita Barros has previously argued that AI could reshape how care is delivered, though whether it ultimately saves costs remains an open question.
A second panel on technology's impact follows, with Rui Guimarães, former president of Hospital de Gaia, and Duarte Sequeira, founder of the Portuguese clinical automation platform Uphill.
Mariana Leitão, the president of the Iniciativa Liberal, closes the event with a speech scheduled for 19h15.
Planting ideas for parliament
The Liberal party says the goal is to generate material that could eventually become legislation — or simply move the public conversation forward.
Mário Amorim Lopes framed the exercise as a way to "plant ideas" and create debate beyond the next budget cycle. The party has long advocated for reforms in the health sector and views these forums as a way to test proposals with specialists and practitioners.
Future editions are already being planned. After health, the party intends to turn the format to artificial intelligence, public administration, taxation and housing — areas where residents in Portugal face daily friction, from portal logins to queue times.
For readers, the immediate impact may be limited today. But the discussions could shape what the Liberal benches propose in the Assembly and how other parties respond, particularly as the Pacto Estratégico para a Saúde continues its work under presidential auspices.
