LISBON – Eurostat data on excess mortality in the EU zone, released on Wednesday 17 August, are causing a lot of discussion in Portugal. According to the most authoritative European statistical office, in June, the excess mortality rate was 23.9%, almost four times higher than the European average, which stands at 6.2%. It is the fifth consecutive month that the Portuguese find themselves at the top of this unpleasant ranking (Spain is in second place with 16.7%). In the rest of Europe, in fact, the percentage of deaths additional to the average mortality that was recorded until the outbreak of the pandemic from Covid-19 is in a decreasing phase, while in Portugal it is increasing for the fifth consecutive month.
Part of the scientific community calls for a cross-reading of the data before giving in to alarmism. The mathematician Carlos Antunes of the University of Lisbon, for example, in statements to the Lusa agency recalled that mortality in Portugal has been increasing gradually since 2009 due to the aging of the population.
Inevitable, however, the finger pointed by many (starting with the world of politics, with the far-right party, Chega, which asked for a parliamentary question) against the inefficiency of the National Health Service, which often ended up on the front page of this very summer due to hospital emergency wards closed due to lack of staff.
But the age-old question of energy poverty of the Portuguese also comes to the surface, given that deaths increase in conjunction with peaks of cold or heat.
Source: Ansa
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