State to Subsidize Weight-Loss Drugs Prescribed Exclusively Through SNS

The government will subsidize new weight-loss medications at 15%, but has restricted eligibility exclusively to prescriptions issued by National Health Service (Serviço Nacional de Saúde or SNS) specialists. Under a newly published ministerial decree (portaria), only endocrinologists, internists, and pediatricians within the public healthcare network may prescribe the subsidized treatments, with coverage capped at one year. The measure excludes prescriptions written by doctors in the private sector.