DREM releases “Health Statistics of the Autonomous Region of Madeira 2023”, on its website

Today, the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM) released on its website the publication “Health Statistics of the Autonomous Region of Madeira 2023,” which compiles a set of statistical data for the year 2023 concerning the health sector in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (ARM), previously disseminated throughout 2023 and 2024.

Although the publication refers primarily to the year 2023, the chapter on hospitals also includes more detailed information pertaining to the final results for 2022.

The publication is structured into several chapters: Health Status Indicators, Health Staff, Hospitals, Primary Health Care Units, Pharmacies, Mobile Medicine Depots and Points-of-Sale for Non-Prescription Medicines, Vaccination, Births, and Mortality by Causes of Death.

Key Findings:

Health Status Indicators – 48.8% of persons aged 16 and overrated their health as “Very good or good,” and 47.6% reported having a chronic illness or long-term health problem

• • • 48.8% of persons aged 16 and over residing in the ARM self-assessed their health as “Very good or good,” an increase of 3.4 percentage points (pp) compared to 2022;
    • 47.6% of residents aged 16 and over reported having a chronic illness or long-term health problem (+3.3 pp compared to 2022);
    • 34.9% of the population of Madeira aged 16 and over felt limited in their activities due to a health problem (+1.7 pp compared to 2022).

Health Personnel – Number of physicians (+4.3%), nurses (+3.8%) and pharmacists (+1.1%) increased in 2022, but the number of dentists decreased (-1.7%)

• • • In the ARM, there were 1 375 physicians registered in the Guild, up by 57 (+4.3%) over the previous year (1 318 doctors). On average, there were 5.4 physicians per thousand inhabitants (5.2‰ in 2022);
    • In their professional order there were registered 236 dentists, less 4 than in 2022;
    • According to the Portuguese Order of Nurses, 2 647 nurses were working in the ARM, a 3.8% increase over 2022 (2 551). On average, there were 10.3 nurses per thousand inhabitants (10.0 in 2022);
    • The number of pharmacists registered with their respective Order and working in the ARM was 274, up by 3 over 2022, corresponding to 1.07 pharmacists per thousand inhabitants (same in 2022).

Hospitals – Increase in hospitalisations, emergency services attendance and surgeries, but a decrease in medical appointments in 2022

• • • The ARM had 10 hospitals: three public and seven private;
    • There were 2 066 beds in the hospitals of the ARM, corresponding to a ratio of 8.1 beds per thousand inhabitants (8.3 in 2022);
    • The hospital staff consisted of 5 087 healthcare professionals (5 014 in 2022). Among these, 584 physicians, 1 546 nurses, 272 auxiliary technicians of diagnostic and therapeutic, and 1 539 auxiliary personnel;
    • The number of hospitalised persons was 27 000 (26 300 in 2022), corresponding to 584 700 days of hospitalisation. The average length of hospital stays in the Region was 21.7 days;
    • There were 248 legally performed voluntary terminations of pregnancy, up by 24 over the previous year;
    • There were 374 000 medical appointments in the outpatient clinics of the hospitals, an increase of 17.2% compared to 2022 (319 100 appointments);
    • There were 94 teleconsultations in the ARM hospitals;
    • On average, about 51 surgeries (excluding minor surgeries) were performed daily in the hospitals of the ARM (34 in public hospitals). The overall average represents an increase of 5.0 surgeries per day compared to 2022;
    • Emergency services in the ARM hospitals saw 158 300 attendances, an increase of 0.7% compared to 2022 (157 100 attendances);
    • 10 500 patients received day hospital care with 52 700 treatment sessions performed. Compared to 2022, there were decreases of 2.1% in the number of patients and 14.4% in the number of sessions;
    • There were 6.4 million complementary diagnostic and/or therapeutic acts performed, representing a 6.5% decrease compared to 2022;
    • Public hospitals admitted 120 patients in home hospitalisation, totalling 1 033 days of stay and 1 119 visits by professionals from the Home Hospitalisation Unit.

Pharmacies – Number of pharmacies remained the same in 2023

• • • The ARM had 65 pharmacies, one mobile medicine depot, and 23 points-of-sale for non-prescription medicines;
    • On average, the ARM had 26 pharmacies and mobile medicine depots per 100 000 inhabitants.

Vaccination – Drop in COVID-19 inoculations was decisive in the reduction in the total number of inoculations administered in the Region 

• • • Under the Regional Immunization Plan (RIP), 53 888 inoculations were administered, a decrease of 3.5% compared to 2022 (55 822);
    • In the Extra RIP mode, 67 971 inoculations were performed, a 51.6% decrease compared to the previous year;

• • • The number of COVID-19 vaccine inoculations (86 501) decreased by 81.6% compared to 2022.

Births – Births decreased by 0.5%

• • • In the ARM, there were 1 733 births of residents, a decrease of 0.5% compared to 2022 (1 742 births);
    • 77.8% of births were of mothers aged between 25 and 39 years (1 348 births);
    • The percentage of mothers aged 40 or older was the second highest ever recorded (9.2%), below the 9.5% recorded in 2022.

Mortality by Causes of Death –Circulatory system diseases were the main cause of death in the ARM, causing on average 2 death per day

• • • In the ARM, there were 2 791 deaths among residents, a decrease of 10.1% compared to 2022 (3 104 deaths);
    • Circulatory system diseases remained the leading cause of death in the ARM, with 720 deaths (-8.5% compared to 2022), corresponding to a rate of 282.0 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants (310.6 in 2022);
    • Malignant tumours were the second leading cause of death in the Region, with 649 deaths (-1.2% compared to 2022), corresponding to a mortality rate of 254.2 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants (259.3 in 2022);
    • Respiratory system diseases were the third leading cause of death, with 422 deaths (-3.0% compared to 2022), corresponding to a mortality rate of 165.3 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants (171.7 in 2022);
    • COVID-19 caused 41 deaths in the ARM, a decrease of 214 deaths compared to 2022. These deaths represented 1.5% of the mortality in 2023, translating to a mortality rate of 16.1 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in the ARM.

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