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Day: 7 May 2026

Order of Physiotherapists defends the role of physiotherapy in prevention and sustainability of the health system at CNN Portugal Summit

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The Order of Physiotherapists took part in the 3rd edition of the CNN Portugal Summit “Innovation in Health”, held on 6 May at the Champalimaud Foundation, an initiative that brought together political leaders, health professionals, academics, managers and representatives from different sectors to debate the challenges of sustainability, efficiency and innovation in the health system in Portugal.

The President of the Portuguese Order of Physiotherapists, António Lopes, took part in the panel “Living longer and better: the economics of prevention”, moderated by journalist Rita Rodrigues, alongside Rita Sá Machado, Director-General of Health, João Silveira Botelho, Vice-President of the Champalimaud Foundation, and José Manuel Boavida, Chairman of the Board of the Portuguese Diabetic Protection Association (APDP).

The debate centred on the role of prevention in the sustainability of health systems, the need to prepare responses for an increasingly ageing population with a higher prevalence of chronic disease, and the importance of promoting effective health gains through integrated and multidisciplinary approaches.

In his speech, the President of the Order of Physiotherapists emphasised that “movement is fundamental to the concept of being healthy”, and advocated greater integration of physiotherapy in primary health care and in prevention and health promotion strategies.

The Order of Physiotherapists also reinforced the idea that physiotherapy today plays an important role throughout the entire care pathway - from health promotion and disease prevention to treatment, functional recovery and reducing the impact of chronic diseases on people's lives.

In this context, the contribution of physiotherapists to more integrated models of care, close to communities and centred on the citizen, based on interdisciplinary work and articulation between different health professionals, was highlighted.

The participation of the Order of Physiotherapists in this forum also made it possible to reinforce the importance of creating and consolidating Physiotherapy Services and Units in Local Health Units, recognising the clinical, professional and organisational autonomy of physiotherapists and their contribution to more efficient, sustainable responses geared towards health gains.
 

The conference debated topics such as the future of the National Health Service, the efficiency of health management, financing the system, the role of innovation and regulation, as well as the challenges associated with prevention and the longevity of the Portuguese population.

The CNN Portugal Summit “Innovation in Health” was once again a space for strategic reflection on public health policies and the need to develop organisational models centred on prevention, the integration of care and the efficient use of available resources.

Watch the Order of Physiotherapists take part in the CNN Portugal Summit “Innovation in Health”.

Pedro Maciel Barbosa

Specialist physiotherapist at the Matosinhos Local Health Unit Sub-coordinator for Primary Health Care, Matosinhos Local Health Unit Visiting Assistant Professor at the Porto School of Health Member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Health - SNS Member of the General Council of the Order of Physiotherapists

Carlos Sand

Carlos Areia has been a physiotherapist since 2013, and has worked in various hospitals, clinics and clubs in both Portugal and the UK. He began his academic career at Oxford University in 2016, where he led a clinical trial comparing physiotherapy vs surgery in anterior cruciate injuries in 32 hospitals in England. In 2018 she moved to the neurosciences department, where she developed her own studies on remote monitoring of vital signs, which were implemented during the pandemic. Here he discovered his passion for data, and in 2022, he joined Digital Science as a Data Scientist. He completed his PhD earlier this year, and has more than 60 publications in journals such as The Lancet, BMJ, Cochrane, among others. He is also an honorary lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and a consultant in clinical research.

Eduardo José Brazete Carvalho Cruz

PhD in Physiotherapy from the University of Brighton, UK. Post-Doctorate in Epidemiology from the National School of Public Health at the New University of Lisbon.
Coordinator of the Studies and Planning Office of the Order of Physiotherapists. Coordinating Professor of the Physiotherapy Department of the School of Health of the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal (ESS-IPS). President of the ESS-IPS Technical-Scientific Council. Coordinator of the Physiotherapy Department at ESS-IPS. Integrated Researcher at the Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC) (a partnership between FCM-UNL, the National School of Public Health, the University of Évora, the Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health and Santo Espírito Hospital, Terceira Island, Azores).

Sara Souto Miranda

Sara Souto Miranda has a bachelor's and master's degree in physiotherapy from the University of Aveiro, and a postgraduate qualification in adult respiratory physiotherapy from the same institution. In 2023 she completed her double doctorate in Rehabilitation Sciences/Health, Medicine and Life Sciences at the Universities of Aveiro and Maastricht (Netherlands) and is currently working as a technical-scientific advisor to the Studies and Planning Office (GEP) of the Order of Physiotherapists, and as a guest lecturer at the Piaget Institute in Vila Nova de Gaia. As a member of the Respiratory Research and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of Aveiro (Lab3R), she has carried out applied research in which she has assessed and treated patients with respiratory pathology, having taken part in 6 research projects. Throughout her career she has published 19 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals with an impact factor, 1 book chapter and more than 50 abstracts in conference proceedings. She was a research volunteer at the Ciro rehabilitation centre (Centre for expertise in chronic organ failure) in the Netherlands, and is currently a member of the Guideline Methodology Network of European Respiratory Society. She was honoured by European Lung Foundation e European Respiratory Society for carrying out patient-centred research, by the Directorate General for Higher Education with a merit grant for his master's degree, and by the Ciro Centre with a grant to support research abroad.

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