Migration health: Better health for all in Europe

Author/s: María-José Peiro, Roumyana Petrova-Benedict
Year:
Language: English
Publication Type: Policy brief(External)

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Description
The Assisting Migrants and Communities (AMAC): Analysis of Social Determinants of Health and Health Inequalities has been an initiative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), implemented with the support of the European Commission’s Health Programme and the Office of the Portuguese High Commissioner for Health, which has contributed to recent efforts to tackle health inequalities in relation to migration in Europe.
 
The AMAC project has established multi-disciplinary cooperation and partnership among government representatives, the European institutions, universities and public health schools, civil society/non-governmental organisations and international agencies and has pursued the European agenda in the field of migrant health notably through the EU-Level Consultation on Migration Health - ̈Better Health for All ̈, which took place in Lisbon on 24th - 25th September 2009 under the auspices of the Portuguese Ministry of Health and the Office of the Portuguese High Commissioner for Health.
 
The EU-Level Consultation marked the 2nd anniversary of the European conference under the same title held under the Portuguese EU Presidency in 2007 and provided an effective link with the overarching theme of addressing health inequalities, also included within the Spanish 2010 EU Presidency’s health programme.
 
The Consultation brought together over 130 representatives from relevant ministries from EU and EU accession countries and neighbouring states, as well as from key European institutions, international organisations, academia and civil society organisations active on migrant health issues in Europe, with the presentation of key recent policy texts in the field by the European Commission (EC), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the Council of Europe and the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Consultation provided an effective platform for discussion of five main themes: social determinants of health; the legal and policy framework; research in migration health; capacity-building for health professionals; and maternal, child and adolescent health. It also enabled the development of conclusions and recommendations directed to EU and national policy-makers and stakeholders for translation into effective migration health policy and practice at national and EU levels. A summary of these recommendations is presented in this brief.
Publisher
International Organization for Migration