19 research outputs found
The basic principles of migration health: Population mobility and gaps in disease prevalence
Currently, migrants and other mobile individuals, such as migrant workers and asylum seekers, are an expanding global population of growing social, demographic and political importance. Disparities often exist between a migrant population's place of origin and its destination, particularly with relation to health determinants. The effects of those disparities can be observed at both individual and population levels. Migration across health and disease disparities influences the epidemiology of certain diseases globally and in nations receiving migrants. While specific disease-based outcomes may vary between migrant group and location, general epidemiological principles may be applied to any situation where numbers of individuals move between differences in disease prevalence. Traditionally, migration health activities have been designed for national application and lack an integrated international perspective. Present and future health challenges related to migration may be more effectively addressed through collaborative global undertakings. This paper reviews the epidemiological relationships resulting from health disparities bridged by migration and describes the growing role of migration and population mobility in global disease epidemiology. The implications for national and international health policy and program planning are presented
The Practice of Immigration Health in Complex Emergency Situations - A Case Study of Kosovo from March to July 1999
The need to rapidly transport refugees,
displaced as a result of evolving complex
humanitarian emergencies creates challenges
for those refugee-receiving nations
that require formaI immigration
medical screening of these populations.
Balancing the need to expediently resettle
the refugees with these legislative and
regulatory medical requirements can be
logistically and operationally difficult.
During the 1999 Kosovo crisis, the Humanitarian
Evacuation Programme
from the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia rapidly moved large numbers
of Kosovar Albanian refugees to nations
with existing formal immigration
medical screening requirements. This
paper describes the successful management and delivery
of immigration health
services during this complicated international
event.La nécessité de transporter rapidement
les réfugiés déplacés à cause d'urgences
humanitaires complexes à évolution
rapide représenteun défi pour les nations
receveuses de réfugiés requérant un
tamisage médical routinier de sa population
immigrante. Des points de vue
logistique et opérationnel, il peut
s'avérer fort difficile pour ces états de
concilier la nécessité de relocaliser
rapidement les réfugiés avec les exigences
de leurs lois et règlements en
matière médicale et sanitaire. Lors de la
crise du Kosovo de 1999, le Programme
d'Évacuation Humanitaire de l'ancienne
république yougoslave de Macédoine
déplaça rapidement un grand nombre de
réfugiés albanais kosovars vers des nations
requérant formellement un
tamisage médical de sa population
immigrante. Cet article décrit la gestion
et la distribution réussies de services de
santé à l'immigration au cours de cet
événement international complexe
Field Epidemiology Assessment for a Medical Evacuation Programme Related to the Crisis in Kosovo, 1999
In complex human emergency (CHE)-aid situations, the international community responds to provide assistance to reduce morbidity and mortality related to environmental and civil disruptions. The political and social situation in Kosovo, in combination with the military activity from 23 March to 09 June, 1999, created a crisis associated with mass movement of the population of Kosovo into neighbouring provinces and nations. This forced migration of people seeking protection increased demands for -water, food, shelter, and health care in the refugee areas. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that 771,900 ethnic Albanians, and 30,700 Serbians, Croatians, and Montenegrins had been displaced from Kosovo during this time period, and that 439,500 of these people had arrived in Albania. Given the limited health-care resources in Albania to respond to the increasing demands for health care, a field epidemiological study was conducted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to assess the need for a medical evacuation program from Albania related to the crisis in Kosovo. Outcome measurements in this assessment were: 1) health-care capacity and health-care utilization rates in Albania before the crisis and by the refugees during the crisis; 2) the frequency of war-related injuries; 3) the frequency of medical evacuation; 4) nature of medical conditions of the patients being evacuated; and 5) destination for medical evacuation (internal or international) during the crisis. The results of the field assessment, which gathered health outcome data during the first eight weeks of the conflict (23 March 1999 to 25 May 1999), indicated that there was a need for a specifically designed medical evacuation programme in Albania. The study demonstrated that the implementation of a medical evacuation programme must be integrated with the national health care objectives. It also was found that the magnitude of an evacuation programme could be reduced markedly by strategic support of existing medical programmes in Albania (haemodialysis, trauma and orthopaedics, blood banking). Implementation of this strategy could permit containment of the majority of cases within Albania or to regional, health-care facilities. The results of such targeted support for specific services could result in a national programme for internal medical evacuation, with limited dependence upon the international movement of patient
Population Mobility, Globalization, and Antimicrobial Drug Resistance
Human travel contributes to antimicrobial drug resistance around the world
Health Aspects of the Pre-Departure Phase of Migration
In the second article in a six-part PLoS Medicine series on
Migration & Health, Brian Gushulak and Douglas MacPherson discuss the
pre-departure phase of migration and the specific health risks and policy needs
associated with this phase
Health and Foreign Policy: Influences of Migration and Population Mobility." Bulletin of the World Health Organization 85
Abstract International interest in the relationship between globalization and health is growing, and this relationship is increasingly figuring in foreign policy discussions. Although many globalizing processes are known to affect health, migration stands out as an integral part of globalization, and links between migration and health are well documented. Numerous historical interconnections exist between population mobility and global public health, but since the 1990s new attention to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases has promoted discussion of this topic. The containment of global disease threats is a major concern, and significant international efforts have received funding to fight infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Migration and population mobility play a role in each of these public health challenges. The growing interest in population mobility's health-related influences is giving rise to new foreign policy initiatives to address the international determinants of health within the context of migration. As a result, meeting health challenges through international cooperation and collaboration has now become an important foreign policy component in many countries. However, although some national and regional projects address health and migration, an integrated and globally focused approach is lacking. As migration and population mobility are increasingly important determinants of health, these issues will require greater policy attention at the multilateral level
Health and foreign policy: influences of migration and population mobility
International interest in the relationship between globalization and health is growing, and this relationship is increasingly figuring in foreign policy discussions. Although many globalizing processes are known to affect health, migration stands out as an integral part of globalization, and links between migration and health are well documented. Numerous historical interconnections exist between population mobility and global public health, but since the 1990s new attention to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases has promoted discussion of this topic. The containment of global disease threats is a major concern, and significant international efforts have received funding to fight infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Migration and population mobility play a role in each of these public health challenges. The growing interest in population mobility’s health-related influences is giving rise to new foreign policy initiatives to address the international determinants of health within the context of migration. As a result, meeting health challenges through international cooperation and collaboration has now become an important foreign policy component in many countries. However, although some national and regional projects address health and migration, an integrated and globally focused approach is lacking. As migration and population mobility are increasingly important determinants of health, these issues will require greater policy attention at the multilateral level