Heat and pollution are among the main environmental risks that have caused thousands of deaths in Portugal, according to an assessment released yesterday on health and the environment, focused on 2025.
The assessment “Health and Environment 2025” is part of a report of the same name, which is formally presented on Thursday in Lisbon, at the Gulbenkian Foundation, with data for the past year but also from other periods and now released.
The authors of the document, under the responsibility of the Portuguese Observatory of Health and Environment (OPSA), of the Portuguese Council for Health and Environment (CPSA), say that even though Portugal has reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, heat and pollution “continue to cost lives.”
And they call for protection of the most vulnerable, more sustainable health care and preparation for climate catastrophes. Because, they stress, it is necessary “to treat the environmental crisis also as a health emergency.”
According to the data released today by the CPSA, there were an estimated 2,009 excess deaths during heat episodes in 2025.
Approximately 4,710 deaths attributable to air pollution were also identified, but in relation to 2023. And an estimated 750 premature annual deaths are associated with noise pollution.
“Heat waves are no longer just a summer threat,” warn the study’s authors, recalling that last year there were six episodes (in spring, summer and autumn), joined by the pressure of fires, water scarcity and biodiversity loss.
A CPSA press release about the study also warns about the detection of the mosquito “Aedes albopictus,” which can transmit diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, which moved from 18 continental municipalities in 2024 to 28 in 2025. (The presence of the mosquito does not, by itself, mean local transmission of the diseases, notes the CPSA).
In the face of the threats, the report notes that protection is unequal in the country, since 15.7% of the population reported not being able to adequately heat their homes in 2024. And the most vulnerable groups are the elderly, chronic patients and poorer families.
And although greenhouse gas emissions and the proportion of days with poor air quality have fallen, that does not eliminate local risks or guarantee protection for everyone, conclude the authors of the document, highlighting that the health sector faces a dual responsibility: to respond to environmental impacts and to reduce the damage associated with its own activity.
The sector, they say, is responsible for 4.8% of national GHG emissions, without those responsible having made environmental sustainability a priority.
The CPSA recommends a governance framework that coordinates different ministries, a national strategy for environmental sustainability in health, and a National Health Adaptation Plan, covering both the public and private sectors.
This means, he explains, identifying and monitoring vulnerable people, strengthening surveillance and alerts, protecting schools and homes, creating accessible cooling spaces and ensuring the continuity of care during heat waves, wildfires, floods or storms.
In addition to the need, among other measures, to invest in disease prevention.
“Protecting health cannot wait for environmental degradation to translate into more episodes of disease, nor can protecting the environment remain outside health decisions,” the statement says.
Luís Campos, president of the CPSA, emphasizes that the health of the Portuguese population cannot be separated from the quality of the air they breathe, the water and food they consume, the conditions in which they live, the stability of ecosystems and the capacity of health services to respond to crisis situations.
The CPSA is an association founded in 2022 that brings together more than 100 organizations in the health sector and promotes an integrated approach to health and environment.
The report gathers indicators, studies, policies and recommendations on the areas where environment and health intersect.
The World Health Organization (WHO) points to 13 million annual deaths associated with environmental factors.
