Entitled PROVIDA, the project will be developed in collaboration with the orders of Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists, other medical schools, unions and research units.

“The knowledge obtained will be essential to assess the risks to which health professionals are and were subjected during the period of the epidemic, and to improve, in the future, individual protection measures”, explained Altamiro da Costa Pereira, study coordinator and director FMUP.

With PROVIDA, “it is intended not only to quantify the possible excesses in mortality rates among health professionals compared to those of the general population, but also to investigate possible differences in the risks associated with different clinical specialties and differential exposures of health professionals in relation to infected patients”, he said.

In this context, data on deaths during the epidemic period will be compared with data from similar months in the previous year and the averages and trends in mortality in recent years.

Associations with working conditions will also distinguish possible variations in risk between different clinical specialties, workplaces and any data on comorbidities and beliefs, attitudes and behaviours, and the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as masks, gloves, gowns or visors.

The conclusions of this study will be “crucial so that contingency plans can be updated”, in order to reduce mortality and morbidity among health professionals in future epidemic waves of this or another virus, through the implementation of measures that protect the most vulnerable groups of professionals.

In addition, "the project intends to pay a deserved tribute to all who sacrificed themselves in this pandemic, sometimes risking their own lives, for the treatment of the patients who resorted to them", added the coordinator of CINTESIS (Research Centre) in Health Technologies and Services).

This study will seek support from professional organisations and unions from other health professionals - such as senior diagnostic and therapeutic technicians or operational assistants - as well as employers, hospitals and Social Solidarity Institutions (IPSS) or the relatives of the victims to obtain and validate certain data.

It will also seek to count on the collaboration of the National Statistics Institute, the regional health administrations, the Directorate-General for Health, the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Health itself, in order to facilitate access many of the primary data that will be analyzed.

The collection, preparation and analysis of the data will be carried out centrally by a multidisciplinary team of experienced specialists, coordinated by the principal investigator of PROVIDA.

The project has already received the logistical support of the Porto City Council, the clinical support of the Clinical Academic Centre of Porto, and the academic and scientific sponsorship of CEMP - Council of Portuguese Medical Schools.

Researchers or entities wishing to contribute to this project with a contribution of technical, scientific or financial work, may contact the responsible team by e-mail: provida@med.up.pt.