Gotta love public healthcare
I'm forever grateful to be living not only in a place with decent public healthcare, but close enough to emergency services. I had some health issues last night — nothing major enough to call an ambulance (which is free, btw), but nothing minor that I could ignore — so I took a 10-minute walk to the 24h emergency center at 2AM.
By 3AM I had already consulted with the doctor, at 3:30 I was taking some intravenous medication, at 4:30 I was discharged with ibuprofen to take for the next 5 days and antibiotics for the next 10 — all for free.
I never used public healthcare emergency in Portugal, but I went with my ex once and it was the same. We got there by 5AM and she was discharged with a diagnosis at around 11AM after doing a full battery of exams. The only difference is that she was charged the incredible sum of 50~70 euros a year later, while in Brazil everything is fully paid for by your taxes, so you owe them 0 reais.
The system here is not perfect, tho. Despite being a national system, the funding is managed by the city hall in each location, so even with enough budget, it's not hard for money to go "mysteriously missing" or to be badly invested. And the wait for a consultation with a specialist is way too long. Emergency care, however, mostly works fine. Sometimes, even better than private hospitals.
(And remember: if you're a foreigner in Brazil, you don't need health insurance to use public emergency services. Just have your passport with you and someone who can speak Portuguese. Healthcare is a universal right here.)