The President of the Portuguese Physiotherapists Order, António Lopes, participated in the meeting of the Regional Health Council, convened and chaired by the Regional Secretary for Health and Sports of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.
The agenda of the meeting held on 23 January, in Angra do Heroísmo, had as its sole point the presentation of the assumptions and structural principles of the regional health plan.
António Lopes agreed with the general principles of the plan presented and with the diagnosis of the main health problems in the Region, having underlined that the issues presented in the morbidity plan, are areas in which the contribution of physiotherapists is documented as being relevant.
In his speech, the President António Lopes also had the opportunity to present physiotherapists as autonomous health professionals, being specialists in movement and functionality, strongly committed to the promotion of healthy lifestyles, namely in terms of physical activity.
In this sense, he also reiterated the relevance of the contributions of physiotherapy in the area of rehabilitation and in the area of prevention and promotion of health, namely in primary health care, integrated in health teams.
Stressing his knowledge of the existence of good practices in some islands of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, António Lopes defended the need to adjust physiotherapy resources, both in number and organization, in order to make the best use of the available capacities of physiotherapists to solve health problems and improve the continuity and accessibility of care.
António Lopes also noted that the Order is taking the necessary steps to create regional structures, without prejudice to sending contributions to the regional health plan, after consulting the professionals based in the Autonomous Region of the Azores.
