Researchers from the Algarve Biomedical Center Research Institute (ABC-Ri) at the University of the Algarve and Spain’s Institute for Biomedical Research Sols-Morreale have published a study that could help advance
The post Algarve researchers help uncover clues to cancer resistance in African spiny mouse appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Sharp rise in hospital visits will in turn drive up annual healthcare costs for heat-related conditions to over $1bn
People in the US are poised to endure another summer of unusually ferocious heat and there will be little respite in the years ahead, with a new study finding that the coming 15 years could see a doubling in hospitalizations due to heat-related illnesses.
The number of annual heat-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations across the US are set to rise from about 109,000 cases a year to as many as 237,000 cases by 2040, the new research has estimated.
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© Photograph: Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images
© Photograph: Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images
© Photograph: Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Greece’s Ombudsman, the country’s independent administrative watchdog, received more than 20,000 complaints in a single year for the first time in its history, according to its latest quarterly bulletin, highlighting persistent failures across the country’s public administration.
The Ombudsman reported that the upward trend recorded in 2025 continued during the first four months of 2026 with no sign of slowing down. The figure underscores the strained relationship between citizens, residents, legal entities, and public services in Greece, where bureaucracy remains one of the most persistent sources of public frustration.
The bulletin, which covers January to April 2026, details cases involving social insurance, labor rights, disability certification, digital access to public services, and environmental protection.
One notable case involved a large family that lost its exemption from municipal fees after some of its children reached adulthood.
The competent authority had apparently treated the exemption as temporary, although Greek law provides lifetime protection for families with four or more children, a category that carries a specific legal status in Greece. Following the Ombudsman’s intervention, the authority restored the family’s lifetime exemption.
The bulletin also refers to the pension agency operating under the legacy structure of the former Agricultural Insurance Organization (OGA), which Greece later absorbed into the unified social security body e-EFKA. The agency attempted to recover money from low-income pensioners in order to correct errors that its own employees had made over several years.
In a separate case, a disabled citizen was expected to go through a prolonged bureaucratic process simply to have a disability assessment issued by the Army’s Supreme Health Committee converted into digital form. The conversion was necessary to obtain Greece’s Digital Disability Card.
Labor rights also featured prominently in the Ombudsman’s findings. The authority recommended heavy sanctions against a company that unlawfully dismissed a pregnant employee.
It also secured recognition of a 22-day special leave entitlement for two mothers of children with developmental disorders after their public-sector employers had repeatedly refused to grant the leave.
The bulletin also highlighted a pattern of complaints from disabled citizens regarding the behavior of certain doctors at KEPA, Greece’s disability certification centers, which operate under e-EFKA.
Following the Ombudsman’s intervention, the agency issued instructions for behavioral training and the adoption of a professional code of conduct.
Environmental issues formed another major area of concern. The Ombudsman criticized the ministries of Health and Development as well as the police over a legislative gap in noise regulation. According to the authority, the gap leaves residents living near open-air concert venues without adequate protection from noise pollution.
In two separate cases, the Ombudsman referred local government inaction to prosecutors. The cases concerned delays in flood prevention projects and the failure to demolish illegal structures in Oropos, in East Attica, and Ikaria, an island in the Eastern Aegean.
In the northwestern region of Thesprotia, the Ombudsman’s intervention also halted the illegal infilling of a stream.
The Algarve municipality of Lagos will host a free information session this week aimed at helping foreign residents better understand how Portugal’s healthcare system works. Entitled “Health in Portugal: Information
The post Free Algarve event explains Portugal’s healthcare system to foreigners appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Medical Protection Society calls for law to be overhauled to help medics avoid liability for errors made by technology
Doctors and the NHS could be sued for medical negligence over mistakes made by artificial intelligence tools used in diagnosing patients and suggesting their treatment, ministers are being warned.
Under the law as it stands, medics and the health service can be held liable for patients being harmed or dying even if it was AI that made the errors that resulted in their suffering.
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© Photograph: da-kuk/Getty Images
© Photograph: da-kuk/Getty Images
© Photograph: da-kuk/Getty Images
Government-funded JobsPlus trial in 10 neighbourhoods could be scalable nationwide, evaluation shows
A government-funded pilot of “hyperlocal” job support in 10 neighbourhoods across England has shown “promising early signs of effectiveness”, including for young people, and could be scalable nationwide, a new evaluation has shown.
The JobsPlus scheme, backed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Youth Futures Foundation, an independent non-profit organisation, focuses intensive support in a small area of predominantly social housing. Echoing a similar, long-established scheme in the US, “community champions” at each site help to engage hard-to-reach people in the local area.
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© Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian
© Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian
© Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian
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