Thanks for your comment and sorry to hear about your mother's illness. I'm going to assume that your mother is on the public health system and does not have private health insurance (apologies if I'm wrong about that). The only health service organization I am familiar with is Serenity Portugal (https://serenity-portugal.com/). They specialize in working with expats living in Portugal primarily with those with private insurance. However, on their website, they have hourly services which might be something to consider for your mother's situation. Kind of like a "pay-as-you-go" service. It might be worth a call to find out if they can help.
Also, AFPOP is an expat organization located in the Algarve. They provide a variety of services and discounts to their members. If you contact them, they may be able to provide a resource for you (https://afpop.com/en).
Thanks for this helpful information. My mother was diagnosed with kidney cancer in November 2024 and is awaiting news of when she will have an operation to have her kidney removed. It is now mid march 2025. She has lived in Portugal for over 20 years. She is struggling to get an answer from her oncologist who I imagine is very busy. Does anyone know of any advocacy groups or services who could support her? She is based in Algarve
I am a relatively new US expat 5 year cancer survivor living in Lisbon. I want to thank you for your article as I´m still learning the ropes as far as cancer treatment here is concerned. I was initially told that if I provided proof of continuous coverage in the US from my diagnosis until the present, I could get medical insurance. However I was turned down by Allianz and am now on MGEN, for which I have to pay out of pocket for the first year. So, I´ve had to pay for my own scans and even some surgery I required which was quite expensive. Because private insurance would not cover chemo, I have had those treatments in the public system. As some of your responders have already noted, chemo is pretty standard and about the same as in the US clinics. I haven´t had the chance to use Champalimaud yet, but your readers have given me some new ideas.
In general I´ve found that Portugal oncologists work with standard treatments such as chemo, radiation and surgery, but are not knowledgeable or open to many alternative treatments. In order to get some of the newer immunotherapy treatments and vaccines, I´ve had to go outside of the country and pay for the treatments myself, a somewhat disappointing situation. In particular, I´ve used high dose vitamin C between chemo sessions in thew US very successfully to help my body withstand the damage that chemo does, but I cannot find it here. If you know of anyone who is on high dose vitamin C for cancer, please let me know. Contact me at: jaynedutra100@gmail.com or WhatsApp 913.534.740
Very helpful as an American in remission with some serious lifelong issues, and the biggest thing holding us back from moving to Portugal has been health care.
This is a very well thought out summary. Thanks for sharing your (informal) research. I would add that many of my fellow expats seek private care through the La Luz hospital network (as another option to the CUF network.
What a wonderful resource! You just seem to have this amazing intuition regarding questions people might have about moving to Portugal! I have never had the need to use this kind of information, but this is really helpful and comprehensive! Thank you! Very valuable information! Such a kind thing to do!
Ola Carol. As a new Portugal resident and a recently retired US medical oncology provider I appreciate the amount of time and research that you spent on gathering this information into a helpful resource that I plan to keep for future reference. Obrigada!
Hello Hannes,
Thanks for your comment and sorry to hear about your mother's illness. I'm going to assume that your mother is on the public health system and does not have private health insurance (apologies if I'm wrong about that). The only health service organization I am familiar with is Serenity Portugal (https://serenity-portugal.com/). They specialize in working with expats living in Portugal primarily with those with private insurance. However, on their website, they have hourly services which might be something to consider for your mother's situation. Kind of like a "pay-as-you-go" service. It might be worth a call to find out if they can help.
Also, AFPOP is an expat organization located in the Algarve. They provide a variety of services and discounts to their members. If you contact them, they may be able to provide a resource for you (https://afpop.com/en).
You can also pose this question on my Chat forum on the Substack app: (https://www.ourportugaljourney.com/p/bonus-post-join-my-expat-chat?utm_source=publication-search) to see if someone has additional resources.
Hope this helps! - CW
Thanks for this helpful information. My mother was diagnosed with kidney cancer in November 2024 and is awaiting news of when she will have an operation to have her kidney removed. It is now mid march 2025. She has lived in Portugal for over 20 years. She is struggling to get an answer from her oncologist who I imagine is very busy. Does anyone know of any advocacy groups or services who could support her? She is based in Algarve
Hi Carol,
I am a relatively new US expat 5 year cancer survivor living in Lisbon. I want to thank you for your article as I´m still learning the ropes as far as cancer treatment here is concerned. I was initially told that if I provided proof of continuous coverage in the US from my diagnosis until the present, I could get medical insurance. However I was turned down by Allianz and am now on MGEN, for which I have to pay out of pocket for the first year. So, I´ve had to pay for my own scans and even some surgery I required which was quite expensive. Because private insurance would not cover chemo, I have had those treatments in the public system. As some of your responders have already noted, chemo is pretty standard and about the same as in the US clinics. I haven´t had the chance to use Champalimaud yet, but your readers have given me some new ideas.
In general I´ve found that Portugal oncologists work with standard treatments such as chemo, radiation and surgery, but are not knowledgeable or open to many alternative treatments. In order to get some of the newer immunotherapy treatments and vaccines, I´ve had to go outside of the country and pay for the treatments myself, a somewhat disappointing situation. In particular, I´ve used high dose vitamin C between chemo sessions in thew US very successfully to help my body withstand the damage that chemo does, but I cannot find it here. If you know of anyone who is on high dose vitamin C for cancer, please let me know. Contact me at: jaynedutra100@gmail.com or WhatsApp 913.534.740
Thanks again for writing about this! Jayne
Hi Jayne,
Thanks for your comment. I'm traveling this week but I responded to your question via email so be on the lookout for it. -CW
Excellent information.
Please correct: it is not «La Luz ...» (it is spanish). In Portuguese it will be just «Luz Hospital Network».
Thank you.
Very helpful as an American in remission with some serious lifelong issues, and the biggest thing holding us back from moving to Portugal has been health care.
Very informative Carol. Thanks.
This is a very well thought out summary. Thanks for sharing your (informal) research. I would add that many of my fellow expats seek private care through the La Luz hospital network (as another option to the CUF network.
Thanks for your comment, Julie. I appreciate the La Luz hospital reference and will add it to the post. - Carol.
What a wonderful resource! You just seem to have this amazing intuition regarding questions people might have about moving to Portugal! I have never had the need to use this kind of information, but this is really helpful and comprehensive! Thank you! Very valuable information! Such a kind thing to do!
Ola Carol. As a new Portugal resident and a recently retired US medical oncology provider I appreciate the amount of time and research that you spent on gathering this information into a helpful resource that I plan to keep for future reference. Obrigada!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Kimberly. I appreciate it and hope the information is helpful. Welcome to Portugal! - Carol.