Law No. 41/VI/2004 establishing the Basic Legislation on the National Health Service.

This Law, consisting of 41 articles divided into four Chapters, establishes the basic legislation on the National Health Service. It defines health actions and services, carried out separately or jointly, on a permanent or occasional basis, by natural or legal persons under public or private law, with a view to promoting, protecting, preventing, and treating public health. Health actions and services, as well as private services that are part of the National Health Service (SNS), are developed in accordance with the guidelines provided for in the Constitution of the Republic, complying with the following principles: universal access to services at all levels of health care; defense of equity in the distribution of resources and in the use of services; safeguarding professional ethics in the provision of health services; and in particular, taking into consideration the cross-cutting nature of health interventions with special attention to the fight against poverty in general, the conditions of water supply, basic sanitation, housing, education and nutrition of the population, etc.