Challenges in access to health for migrants transiting the Darien region. Health service needs and gaps on the border between Colombia and Panama
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- Category: Health services
- Publication Date: 2024-09-19
The Darien region, a vast jungle territory that straddles the border between Colombia and Panama, has historically been one of the most difficult areas in Latin America to traverse. Characterized by rugged terrain and dense vegetation, it represents a challenge for the migrant population trying to cross from South America to Central America and, eventually, to North America. The health of the migrant population in the Darien region is an issue of great importance and concern. Long travel times, lack of access to adequate medical services, and adverse environmental conditions can lead to a variety of physical and mental health problems, including injuries, infectious diseases, and malnutrition. In addition, migrants face the risk of violence and exploitation throughout their journey. The objective of this document is to analyze the relationship between migration and health in the Darien region, and to highlight the main challenges and opportunities in this context. Through a comprehensive review of recent data, inputs from the governments of Colombia and Panama, host communities, and cooperation partners involved in these issues, the intention of this publication is to provide guidance and bring attention to some of the health needs of the region’s migrant and host populations, and to propose recommendations for increasing their access to health services.
Promoting the health of refugees and migrants: Experiences from around the world
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- Category: Health services
- Publication Date: 2023
This publication is a compendium of 49 country examples highlighting efforts in improving refugees’ and migrants’ health following the adoption of the WHO Global Action Plan on Promoting the health of refugees and migrants at the seventy-second World Health Assembly, in May 2019. Produced by the WHO Health and Migration Programme based on voluntary submissions from Member States and partners, the report showcases how different countries – with varying health systems and different challenges and facilitators towards universal health coverage – have implemented practices to promote the health of refugees and migrants. It explores collaboration among different organizations and stakeholders, governance models and the lessons learned during implementation of practices. The country and local experiences have been used to support provision of general policy considerations for progression of health and well-being for all, including refugees, migrants and the host populations they live with. The report is intended primarily for high-level decision-makers responsible for setting policies, strategies, and plans and for developing budgets for refugees and migrants at national and subnational levels, specialists in health financing, gender specialists, health insurance authorities, national statistical offices, monitoring specialists, advocates, researchers, consultants, and civil society organizations active in the field of refugee and migrant health.
Migration and health research: past, present, and future
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- Category: Health services
- Publication Date: 2023
Global migration continues to rise at unprecedented rates. Migrants are an extremely heterogeneous group and face diverse health needs related to infectious diseases, sexual and reproductive health, non-communicable diseases, and healthcare access across the whole lifespan. In this editorial, we set the context and invite contributions for a collection on 'Migration and health' at BMC Public Health.
Migration Status and Utilization of Healthcare Services Among Venezuelan Immigrants in Peru
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- Category: Health services
- Publication Date: 2023 Aug 29.
In general, migrants in illegal situations encounter a greater barrier to accessing medical care because of their migration status due to not having the required documentation to be able to obtain insurance in the receiving country. Objective: To evaluate the association between migration status and the use of health services in the Venezuelan population residing in Peru. Methods: Data from the second Survey Directed to the Venezuelan Population Residing in Peru (ENPOVE) of 2022 were analyzed. The dependent variable was use of health services in the last month. The exposure variable was migration status (legal/illegal). Generalized linear models of the Poisson family with link log function were used to obtain crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR), for potential confounding variables. Additionally, we evaluated the association of interest, stratified by gender. Findings: Data from 1569 migrants were analyzed. Participants with illegal migration status represented 32.4% (men: 24.3%; women: 36.7%); likewise, 58.1% did not use health services. Illegal migration status was associated with lower health care use (aPR: 0.75; 95%CI: 0.61–0.92). Likewise, after stratifying by sex, the association was maintained only in male migrants (aPR: 0.53; 95%CI: 0.39–0.82) but not in women (aPR: 0.84; 95%CI: 0.67–1.05). Conclusion: 58.1% of Venezuelan migrants in Peru did not seek medical attention despite having health problems. Having an illegal immigration status leads to a lower probability of using these services, especially in men.
Access to Health Care for Migrants Along the Mexico-United States Border: Applying a Framework to Assess Barriers to Care in Mexico
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- Category: Health services
- Publication Date: 14 July 2022
Migrants in Mexico are entitled to care at all levels, independently of their migration status. However, previous studies show that access to care is difficult for this population. As the movement of in-transit migrants and asylum seekers has been interrupted at the Mexico-United States border by migration policies such as the “Remain in Mexico” program, and by border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mexican health system has the challenge of providing them with health care. Levesque et al.'s framework, according to which access occurs at the interface of health system characteristics and potential users' abilities to interact with it, is a useful theoretical tool to analyze the barriers faced by migrants.
- A comparative analysis of health status of international migrants and local population in Chile: a population-based, cross-sectional analysis from a social determinants of health perspective
- A characterization of cross-border use of health services in a transborder population at the Mexico-Guatemala border, September-November 2021
- Food insecurity in Venezuelan migrants in Trinidad and Tobago using the food insecurity experience scale
- Immigration, perceived discrimination and mental health: evidence from Venezuelan population living in Peru
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