GHTM has been a pioneer in Portugal in studying health determinants of migrant populations, one of the vulnerable groups increasingly highlighted in the literature, especially in the current context of humanitarian crises caused by armed conflicts and environmental disasters linked to climate change.
Professor Maria do Rosário Martins, leader of the Research Group on Population Health, Policies, and Services, has dedicated over 10 years to this subject. She emphasizes that one of the initial groundbreaking steps was examining the health of the adult immigrant population. However, significant methodological limitations existed, such as a lack of comparability with native populations and insufficient longitudinal data. Recognizing childhood as a crucial period for effective health interventions, another gap became evident: most studies focused solely on adult populations.
Starting in 2019, GHTM has been implementing several studies to address these limitations. We adopted a cohort approach, following over 1,200 children in five municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The immigrant participants predominantly come from Brazil, Cabo Verde, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, or São Tomé and Príncipe. Approximately half of the cohort comprises native children, facilitating comparative analyses. Additionally, we have maintained close collaborations with migrant non-profit organizations, the Directorate-General for Health, health centers, and hospitals.
One of our main objectives is to analyze the health trajectories of immigrant and native children and investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their health indicators and the socioeconomic dynamics of their families. We linked three databases: questionnaires administered by the study, clinical data collected in health centers and hospitals. We have included data on various health outcomes, ranging from dietary patterns, mental health, and psychomotor development to the most frequent illness episodes.
During the pandemic, our study facilitated interventions by the Ministry of Health and the Government to improve the situation of these vulnerable populations. The impact of our work is reflected not only in numerous publications but also in the awarding of the Human Rights Medal by the Portuguese Parliament in 2020.
Future research includes meta-analyses of child health through the assessment of multiple cohorts, including those in Amazonia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Denmark.