22-05-2024 - DREM releases on its website the publication "Health Statistics of the Autonomous Region of Madeira 2022"

DREM releases on its website the publication "Health Statistics of the Autonomous Region of Madeira 2022"

Today, DREM has released on its website the publication “Health Statistics of the Autonomous Region of Madeira 2022,” which compiles a set of 2022 statistical data on health in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (ARM), already released this year and throughout 2023.

Although this publication references the year 2022, the hospital chapter also includes more detailed information with the final results for 2021. The same applies to the chapter on Primary Health Care Units, which only covers the period 2018-2020, excluding the data for 2021 and 2022, which are still being collected.

The publication is organised into different 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 – In 2022, 45.4% of persons aged 16 and over rated their health as “Very good or good,” and 44.3% reported having a chronic illness or long-term health problem.

45.4% of persons aged 16 and over residing in the ARM self-assessed their health as “Very good or good,” a decrease of 1.2 percentage points (pp) compared to 2021;
44.3% of residents aged 16 and over reported having a chronic illness or long-term health problem (-1.0 p.p. compared to 2021);
33.2% of the population of Madeira aged 16 and over felt limited in their activities due to a health problem (-3.1 pp compared to 2021).

Health Personnel – Number of physicians (+3.7%), dentists (+4.8%), nurses (+4.0%), and pharmacists (+2.3%) increased in 2022.

In the ARM, there were 1,318 physicians registered in the Guild, up by 47 (+3.7%) over the previous year (1,271 doctors). On average, there were 5.2 physicians per thousand inhabitants (5.0‰ in 2021);
In their professional order there were registered 240 dentists, up by 11 (+4.8%) over 2021. On average, there were 0.95 dentists per thousand inhabitants (0.91 in 2021);
According to the Portuguese Order of Nurses, 2,551 nurses were working in the ARM, a 4.0% increase over 2021 (2,452). On average, there were 10.1 nurses per thousand inhabitants (9.7 in 2021);
The number of pharmacists registered with their respective Order and working in the ARM was 271, up by six over 2021 (+2.3%), corresponding to 1.07 pharmacists per thousand inhabitants (1.05 in 2021).

Hospitals – Decrease in hospitalisations, medical appointments, and surgeries, but an increase in emergency services attendance in 2022.

The ARM had 10 hospitals: three public and seven private;
There were 2,098 beds in the hospitals of the ARM, corresponding to a ratio of 8.3 beds per thousand inhabitants (8.6 in 2021);
At the end of 2022, the hospital staff consisted of 5,014 healthcare professionals (5,029 in 2021), including 571 physicians, 1,497 nurses, 274 auxiliary technicians of diagnostic and therapeutics, and 1,527 auxiliary personnel;
The number of hospitalised persons was 24,500 (25,200 in 2021), corresponding to 600,000 days of hospitalisation;
There were 224 legally performed voluntary terminations of pregnancy, up by 70 over the previous year;
There were 319,100 medical appointments in the outpatient clinics of the hospitals, a decrease of 9.8% compared to 2021 (353,600 appointments);
On average, about 46 surgeries (excluding minor surgeries) were performed daily in the hospitals of the ARM (32 in public hospitals). The overall average represents a decrease of 3.5 surgeries per day compared to 2021 (49.3);
Emergency services in the ARM hospitals saw 157,100 attendances, an increase of 32.8% compared to 2021 (118,300 attendances);
There were 6.8 million complementary diagnostic and/or therapeutic acts performed, representing a 0.7% increase compared to 2021;
10,800 patients received day hospital care with 61,600 treatment sessions performed. Compared to 2021, there were decreases of 4.1% in the number of patients and 3.7% in the number of sessions.

Primary Health Care Units (PHCU) – Pandemic affected the main activity indicators of Primary Health Care Units in 2020.

The ARM Health Centres Group (PHCU) consisted of seven health centres, comprising 47 functional units;
The staff at these centres consisted of 1,775 professionals (+5.9% compared to 2019);
There were 229,016 medical appointments in PHCU outpatient clinics, a decrease of 33.9% compared to 2019 (346,288 appointments);
PHCU urgent care services saw 95,591 patients, below the 2019 figure (-30.0%; 136,605 patients);
There was a 19.1% decrease in home visits in the ARM (90,949) compared to the previous year (112,441 visits in 2019);
PHCU performed 11,594 complementary diagnostic acts, down by 17.2% over 2019 (13,998 acts). During the same period, 57,240 complementary therapeutic acts were performed, a 23.2% decrease compared to 2019 (74,555 acts).

Pharmacies – Number of pharmacies remained the same in 2022.

The ARM had 65 pharmacies, one mobile medicine depot, and 22 points-of-sale for non-prescription medicines (same as in 2021);
On average, the ARM had 26 pharmacies and mobile medicine depots per 100,000 inhabitants.

Vaccination – Vaccination under the Regional Inoculation Plan (RIP) increased by 2.7% in 2022.

Under the RIP, 55,822 inoculations were administered, an increase of 2.7% compared to 2021 (54,370). In the Extra RIP mode, 53,991 inoculations of non-COVID-19 vaccines (Comirnaty) were performed, a 5.1% decrease compared to the previous year (56,906);
The number of COVID-19 vaccine inoculations (86,501) decreased by 81.4% compared to 2021.

Births – Births increased by 0.9% in 2022.

In the ARM, there were 1,742 births of residents, an increase of 0.9% compared to 2021 (1,727 births);
78.1% of births were of mothers aged between 25 and 39 years (1,360 births);
The percentage of mothers aged 40 or older was the highest ever recorded (9.5%).

Mortality by Causes of Death – Mortality due to circulatory system diseases and malignant tumours decreased, while mortality from respiratory system diseases increased in 2022.

In the ARM, there were 3,104 deaths among residents, an increase of 8.0% compared to 2021 (2,875 deaths);
Circulatory system diseases remained the leading cause of death in the ARM, with 787 deaths (-2.7% compared to 2021), corresponding to a rate of 3.1 deaths per thousand inhabitants (3.2 in 2021);
Malignant tumours were the second leading cause of death in the Region, with 657 deaths (-2.8% compared to 2021), corresponding to a mortality rate of 2.6 deaths per thousand inhabitants (2.7 in 2021);
Respiratory system diseases were the third leading cause of death, with 435 deaths (+8.5% compared to 2021), corresponding to a mortality rate of 1.7 deaths per thousand inhabitants (1.6 in 2021);
COVID-19 caused 255 deaths in the ARM, an increase of 129 deaths compared to 2021. These deaths represented 8.2% of the mortality in 2022, translating to a mortality rate of 100.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in the ARM.

For more information, access: