Manuel Delgado was speaking to Lusa News Agency at the end of the opening session of the conference to mark the 60th anniversary of the Home Care Unit of the Portuguese Oncology Institute (IPO) in Lisbon on Friday.
“In a society in which most people work, how can we solve the problem of those people that want to look after their own, but who can’t do so without affecting their professional and even financial life?” he asked.
The secretary of state added that the 2018 State Budget was expected to make provision for benefits to informal carers.
“The compensation is not defined. It may be a payment or in the form of social and tax benefits or employment benefits,” he said.
Delgado noted that the carers allow patients to be treated in their own home and reduce the strain on the national health service.
He also noted that changes in Portuguese society meant that the health system itself needed to focus further on home care, with teams working in patients’ homes in acute situations.