Portuguese value “One Health” but there is a long way to go

A most of the portuguese recognize the importance of the articulation between human, animal and environmental health, but there are still gaps in knowledge about antibiotics and food security, according to the study “Portrait of Health in Portugal in Post-Pandemia” published today.

The results of the study promoted by the Doctors' Order reveal that 83.9% of respondents consider cooperation between doctors, veterinarians, environmental experts and policy makers essential to prevent outbreaks and respond to threats to public health.

Despite the appreciation of the concept by the population, the data reveal behaviors and perceptions that the scientific coordinator of the study, Tiago Correia, considers concerning.

The study concluded that 12% of the participants admitted to taking antibiotics without medical prescription and that “between a quarter and a fifth” disagree that the use of antibiotics in animal production may have implications for human health, while almost 20% claim that this relationship does not exist.

“ If we add these two plots, almost half of the people or do not know about the implications of antibiotics on agricultural farms or feel that this has no relevance to their health,” the researcher said. “Portrait of Health in Portugal in Post-Pandemia: Perceptions, access to care”.

Another result shows that about one-fifth of people who consume meat from their own farms or family members say that they do not know the hygiene conditions in which the animals were reared or slaughtered.

For the scientific coordinator, the results show that there is still “a long way to go” in relation to the integration of human, animal and environmental health, but also from the point of view of public health and literacy about the risks to people.

“ It's not just about our health. It has to do with how we produce food, vegetables, animals, how we make informed choices, for example, in the supermarket”, he said.

Tiago Correia also argued that the discussion on health should not be limited to access to medical care and should also include all these factors related to the quality of the environment, food and behaviors that influence the risk of disease.

“ When there are health problems, it is the issue of access that concerns us. Whether we have a family doctor or not, but all this is uphill and we need to make sure that what we eat, what we drink, where we live has quality and allows us to be healthy, because otherwise we are sick and if we are sick we need care and if we need care, there comes all the pressure on the health system ", warned.

The study “Portrait of Health in Portugal in Post-Pandemia: Perceptions, access to care” included, for the first time in Portugal and one of the few experiences of this kind at international level, an instrument for measuring the concept of “One Health” (One Health), which relates to human, animal and environmental health.

Conducted by the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine of the NOVA University of Lisbon, through the Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization for the Policies and Planning of the Health Force, the study took place between September and November 2025 and was based on 700 telephone interviews with adults living in the Continent and in the autonomous regions. The sample is representative and stratified by NUTS III.