In the document, the socialists ask for the adoption of “the necessary measures so that the drugs currently used to combat obesity, and duly authorised by Infarmed, are subsidised by the SNS, creating a pharmacological subgroup for the treatment of obesity and providing for its maximum subsidisation”.

They also recommend the “definition of an integrated care model for the prevention and treatment of obesity”, as well as “the updating, by the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), of the standard on the treatment of obesity, including new medicines and the role of general and family medicine doctors in the treatment of obesity and in monitoring new data on this matter”.

The PS's draft resolution is being presented within the scope of World Obesity Day, which was celebrated on Tuesday and which aims to “raise awareness in society” about the disease and “promote mobilisation for the development of policies to combat it”.

“Obesity is a complex and chronic disease and a major cause of other diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Combating obesity means taking into account the set of problems and ensuring real solutions that work for everyone”, highlights the PS Parliamentary Group.

The PS deputies, who cite two studies from the magazine “The Lancet”, recall that Portugal could have “more than six million people who are overweight or obese in 2050”.

“This disease constitutes a public health problem, both in Portugal and worldwide, and represents a risk factor for the development and worsening of other chronic diseases,” they add.

On Monday, the Portuguese Society of Gastroenterology (SPG) called for the co-payment of medicines such as Ozempic to treat obesity and lamented that overweight patients are criticised when they ask for this medication.

“It is essential that these drugs are reimbursed for the treatment of obesity, with clear advantages for the health of individuals and for society in the long term,” appealed the SPG.

The medical society referred to “GLP1 and GIP agonists, [which include the injectable Ozempic] initially available only to diabetics, but now indicated for the treatment of obesity even without a diagnosis of diabetes.”

Obesity was recognised in Portugal as a chronic disease in 2004, but, according to the SPG, these patients are not provided with integrated treatment strategies, with the latest available medications.