The living will, made voluntarily, is the document in which a citizen can express their will about the health care they wants, or not, to receive when they are unable to make a decision.

The National Register of Living Wills (RENTEV), a system managed by the SPMS that allows you to record all the information relating to this document, came into operation in 2014 and, since that date, more than 53,000 Portuguese have registered their living wills.

The Lisbon and Tagus Valley region has the highest number of registered living wills, approaching 22,000, followed by the North, with more than 16,700. The Centre region has more than 7,700, the Algarve more than 2,800, the Alentejo more than 1,900, Madeira more than 1,300 and in the Azores there are more than 800 registrations.

Data released by the SPMS indicate that, up until Monday, the number of active living wills exceeded 34,500 (over 12,000 relating to men and over 22,500 to women). In either gender, the age groups with the highest number of active registrations are between 65 and 80 years old and between 50 and 65 years old.

For someone to draw up their living will, they must have a National Health Service user number. Afterward, all you have to do is fill in the living will or advance directive form and hand it in at one of the many RENTEV branches throughout the country or send it by post.

Valid for five years from the date of signature, the living will can be amended and renewed.

Those who have their active document can consult it through the personal area of the portal or the SNS 24 application.