Geneva, July 20, 2022 – Millions of refugees and migrants worldwide, including low-skilled migrant workers, live in vulnerable situations and in poorer health than the populations of their host countries, especially when their living and working conditions are poor. This is one of the conclusions of the first WHO world report on the health of refugees and migrants, which indicates that this serious problem has serious consequences and will make it difficult to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals related to the health of these populations.
dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), has pointed out: “Almost one in eight people is a migrant and in total there are almost 1 billion migrants in the world. Migration has a major impact on health and well-being, and refugees and migrants remain among the most vulnerable and neglected groups in many countries. This report, which for the first time takes a global look at the health of these people, calls for urgent and coordinated action to ensure that refugees and migrants around the world can access health services that address their needs. In addition, it underscores the urgent need to address the root causes of migration and to radically re-engineer health systems to adapt to the growing dynamics of our world.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), North America was the destination of 59 million international migrants in 2020. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of international migrants has more than doubled since 2005, reaching 15 million in 2021, the fastest-growing region.
Drawing on a comprehensive review of the literature from around the world, this report shows that the health of refugees and migrants is not inherently worse than that of the host population, but rather that their health deterioration is due to the impact of various factors, such as deficiencies in education, income, housing and access to services, which are reinforced by language, cultural, legal and other barriers and by the intertwining of all these factors throughout life.
The report affirms that the experience of migration and displacement largely determines people’s health and well-being, especially when combined with other factors. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that they often have limited access to health services. On the other hand, the report highlights important gaps in data and information systems on refugee and migrant health; Although there is a large body of data and evidence, it is fragmented and does not allow comparisons between countries and over time.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in coordination with the national authorities of ten Central and South American countries, is implementing a project to protect the health of migrants and ensure their access to health services. However, information gaps are a challenge that still needs to be addressed in order to strengthen and develop national strategies and regulatory frameworks that include this population group.
Earlier this year, in line with global efforts, PAHO launched an information platform to address the lack of regional data on migration and health. The platform includes interactive dashboards on policy, legal and regulatory frameworks, as well as academic literature on health and migration, and is aimed at all stakeholders involved in the development of health and migration policies, laws and programmes.
Although the lack of data comparing refugee and migrant health across countries and over time often makes it difficult to formulate policies that promote health equity, frameworks and standards are available that recognize and meet the health needs of refugees and migrants. However, disparities in health outcomes continue to be observed, which the report says are mainly due to poor and ineffective policy implementation.
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