This paper (prepared within the context of the NORFACE HEALTHDOX Project on the “Paradox of Health State Futures”) analyzes policies of austerity in the Portuguese healthcare system in a comparative perspective. In the context of the financial crisis, the system witnessed series of reforms imposed by the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, or the so-called "Troika", through the Memorandum of Understanding (2011). The fact that beside Greece, Portugal was the only other South European country that introduced a set of externally conditioned austerity policies specifically aimed on healthcare makes it an excellent case for the analysis. The paper will draw some preliminary conclusions about the main trends of the healthcare reforms introduced the context of austerity, situating these reforms in the context of a broader historical development of the Portuguese healthcare system since 1980s, and in comparative perspective with other Southern European countries.

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Health,Portugal,Policies of austerity