O impacto das alterações climáticas já se faz sentir na saúde dos nossos doentes e esta emergência de saúde pública pode vir a pôr em causa a estabilidade do nosso sistema de saúde. As mudanças no clima afetam praticamente todos os órgãos e sistemas, contribuindo para o aumento da incidência e prevalência de diversas patologias. Como médicos de família podemos assumir um papel ativo na mitigação e adaptação às consequências das alterações climáticas na saúde dos nossos doentes, no nosso sistema de saúde e na saúde do nosso planeta através da alteração dos nossos hábitos nas unidades de saúde, da promoção de mudanças de comportamentos e da consciencialização da comunidade em geral para este problema. Somos provavelmente a última geração a poder travar as alterações climáticas e, por isso, temos o dever de agir.

Introduction: Previous studies have found an increase in the incidence rate of depression between 2007 – 2013 in Portugal, with a positive correlation with the unemployment rate, namely, in men. So, it was hypothesized that this increase is related with the situation of economic crisis. This study aimed to investigate if the correlation between unemployment rates and the incidence of depression is maintained in the post-crisis period of economic recovery in Portugal (2016 – 2018).Material and Methods: An ecological study was carried out, using data from the General Practitioners Sentinel Network concerning depression incidence (first episodes and relapses) and data from the National Statistics Institute on unemployment rates in the Portuguese population. The correlation coefficient was estimated using linear regression and the results were disaggregated by sex.Results: Between 2016 and 2018, there was a consistent decrease in the incidence of depression in both sexes. During the 1995 – 2018 period, a positive correlation was observed between unemployment and depression, with a coefficient of 0.833 (p = 0.005) in males and of 0.742 (p = 0.022) in females.Discussion: The reduction in the incidence of depression in both sexes observed between 2016 – 2018 corroborates a positive correlation between unemployment and depression in the Portuguese population, previously observed between 2007 – 2013.Conclusion: This study highlights the need to monitor the occurrence of mental illness in the Portuguese population, especially in moments of greatest social vulnerability in order to establish preventive measures, as a way to mitigate the impact of future economic crises.