Information of Public Interest

Nowadays, many people search for medical information on the Internet. Top quality information exists in other languages, especially in English, but more quality information guaranteed by medicine faculties and scientific institutions needs to be provided in Portuguese.

Furthermore, considerable improvements can be made to the public online availability of data on the environment and weather, i.e. based on information processed by the public institutions working in these areas, including research laboratories, in which broad swathes of the population are evidently interested.

In addition to this, in a global society with increased communication and mobility, more complex forms of interaction mean that mitigation and management of public risk issues, both natural and man-made, take on particular importance. This can be expected to rise in the future. With this in mind, it is crucial that the online availability of information on these issues is encouraged in order to ensure citizens have access to the relevant information so they can deal with this type of situations.

The online availability of information on prevention and health care doubled between 2004 and 2006 (now on 50% of sites), guidelines on what to do in emergency medical situations quadrupled (now on 30% of sites) and the tables with costs of services provided doubled (now on 19% of sites).

To name but a few examples:

• The environment
  • Radiological Information (site in Portuguese), maintained by the Ministry of the Environment, Town and Country Planning and Regional Development;
  • National Inventory of Water Supply and Waste Water Systems (site in Portuguese), maintained by the Water Institute, Ministry of the Environment, Town and Country Planning and Regional Development;
  • Monitoring Electromagnetic Radiation in Mobile Communications (site in Portuguese), maintained by the Telecommunications Institute, Associated Laboratory;
  • National Water Resources Information System (site in Portuguese) , maintained by the Water Institute, Ministry of the Environment, Town and Country Planning and Regional Development;
  • Air Quality in Portugal (site in Portuguese), maintained by the Environment Institute, Ministry of the Environment, Town and Country Planning and Regional Development;
• Meteorology
  • Weather forecast (site in Portuguese), maintained by the Meteorology Institute, state laboratory under the responsibility of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education;
• Health
  • EudraPharm is a database whose objective is to provide information on all medication authorised for human and veterinary use in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), maintained by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA);
  • Bird flu (site in Portuguese), um sítio na Internet mantido pelo CENEGA – Centro Nacional de Emergência da Gripe Aviária, Ministério da Agricultura, do Desenvolvimento Rural e das Pescas;
  • Medicine - Useful Information (site in Portuguese), maintained by INFARMED – National Authority for Medication and Health Products, PI;
  • Obesity – Useful Information (site in Portuguese), maintained by the Bissaya Barreto Foundation;
  • Health – Useful Information (site in Portuguese), maintained by the Ministry of Health;
• Food safety
  • Food safety – Risk assessment and practical advice for consumers (site in Portuguese), Food and Economic Safety Agency, Ministry of the Economy and Innovation;
• Banking system
  • Banking products and services and banking client rights (site in Portuguese), maintained by the Bank of Portugal.