Publications Search
This publications portal is a repository of all IOM migration health publications from 2006 to present where IOM was a primary contributor.
Publications include peer-reviewed scientific papers, technical reports, training guides/manuals, policy briefs/discussion papers, factsheets, newsletters, research reviews, conference and poster presentations. These are categorized by topic, author, country/region covered as well as by year, language, and type of publication. The map reflects the countries covered by the publications.
To browse or search: simply use the filter options on the left-hand side. Alternatively, you can enter keyword/s in the search box. Selecting a specific publication will lead to a ‘download’ link or link to the website where the document is housed. Here is the step-by-step guide for your reference.

Health profile of pediatric Special Immigrant Visa holders arriving from Iraq and Afghanistan to the United States, 2009–2017: A cross-sectional analysis
Author/s: Simone S. Wien, Gayathri S. Kumar, Oleg O. Bilukha, Walid Slim, Heather M. Burke, Emily S. Jentes
Abstract
Background
The United States has admitted over 80,000 Special Immigrant Visa holders (SIVH), which include children. Despite the increase in the proportion of SIVH admissions to the US over recent years, little is known about health conditions in SIV children. We report the frequency of selected diseases identified overseas and assess differences in selected conditions between SIV children from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Methods and…
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Health profile of adult special immigrant visa holders arriving from Iraq and Afghanistan to the United States, 2009–2017: A cross-sectional analysis
Author/s: Gayathri S. Kumar, Simone S. Wien, Christina R. Phares, Walid Slim, Heather M. Burke, Emily S. Jentes
Abstract
Background
Between 2,000 and 19,000 Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders (SIVH) from Iraq and Afghanistan resettle in the United States annually. Despite the increase in SIV admissions to the US over recent years, little is known about the health conditions in SIV populations. We assessed the burden of select communicable and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in SIV adults to guide recommendations to clinicians in the US.
Methods and…
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Health challenges in refugee resettlement: An innovative multi-sector partnership to improve the continuum of care for resettled refugees
Author/s: Erin M Mann, Alexander Klosovsky, Catherine Yen, Andrew PJ Olson, Sarah J Hoffman, Blain Mamo, Ellen A Frerich, Michelle Weinberg, Harith Mayali, Molly McCoy, Shailendra Prasad, Stephen J Dunlop, William M Stauffer
Refugee resettlement is a highly complex process that may hold lessons for the larger realm of migration medicine. As more and more people are displaced by war, climate change, political strife, and economic disparities, migration medicine is becoming an increasingly important component of travel medicine. A recent partnership between the International Organization for Migration/United Nations Agency for Migration (IOM), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the University…
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Clinical Sequelae Associated with Unresolved Tropical Splenomegaly in a Cohort of Recently Resettled Congolese Refugees in the United States—Multiple States, 2015–2018
Author/s: Laura Divens Zambrano, Emily Jentes, Christina Phares, Michelle Weinberg, S. Patrick Kachur, Mukunda Singh Basnet, Alexander Klosovsky, Moses Mwesigwa, Marwan Naoum, Samuel Lubwama Nsobya, Olivia Samson, Matthew Goers, Robert McDonald, Bozena Morawski, Henry Njuguna, Corey Peak, Rebecca Laws, Yasser Bakhsh, Sally Ann Iverson, Carla Bezold, Hayder Allkhenfr, Roberta Horth, Jun Yang, Susan Miller, Michael Kacka, Abby Davids, Margaret Mortimer, William Stauffer and Nina Marano
Abstract. Tropical splenomegaly is often associated with malaria and schistosomiasis. In 2014 and 2015, 145 Congolese refugees in western Uganda diagnosed with splenomegaly during pre-departure medical examinations underwent enhanced screening for various etiologies. After anecdotal reports of unresolved splenomegaly and complications after U.S. arrival, patients were reassessed to describe long-term clinical progression after arrival in the United States. Post-arrival medical information…
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The MIPEX Health strand: a longitudinal, mixedmethods survey of policies on migrant health in 38 countries
Author/s: David Ingleby, Roumyana Petrova-Benedict, Thomas Huddleston, Elena Sanchez
Abstract
Background Within health systems, equity between migrants and native-born citizens is still a long way from being achieved. Benchmarking the equitability of policies on migrant health is essential for monitoring progress and identifying positive and negative aspects of national policies. For this purpose, the 2015 round of the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) was expanded to include a strand on health, in a collaborative project carried out…

A comparative cost analysis of the Vaccination Program for US-bound refugees
Author/s: Heesoo Joo, Brian Maskery, Tarissa Mitchell, Andrew Leidner, Alexander Klosovsky, Michelle Weinberg
- Background: Vaccination Program for US-bound Refugees (VPR) currently provides one or two doses of some age-specific Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)-recommended vaccines to US-bound refugees prior to departure.
- Methods: We quantified and compared the full vaccination costs for refugees using two scenarios: (1) the baseline of no VPR and (2) the current situation with VPR. Under the first scenario, refugees would be…

Cost analysis of measles in refugees arriving at Los Angeles International Airport from Malaysia
Author/s: Margaret Coleman, Heather Burke, Bethany Welstead, Tarissa Mitchell, Eboni Taylor, Dmitry Shapovalov, Brian Maskery, Heesoo Joo, Michelle Weinberg
ABSTRACT
- Background: On August 24, 2011, 31 US-bound refugees from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KL) arrived in Los Angeles. One of them was diagnosed with measles post-arrival. He exposed others during a flight, and persons in the community while disembarking and seeking medical care. As a result, 9 cases of measles were identified.
- Methods: We estimated costs of response to this outbreak and conducted a comparative…

Health care providers and human trafficking: what do they know, what do they need to know? Findings from the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Central America
Author/s: Roderik Viergever, Haley West, Rosilyne Borland, Cathy Zimmerman
Background: Human trafficking is a crime that commonly results in acute and chronic physical and psychological harm. To foster more informed health sector responses to human trafficking, training sessions for health care providers were developed and pilot-tested in the Middle East, Central America, and the Caribbean. This study presents the results of an investigation into what health care providers knew and needed to know about human trafficking as part of that training…
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‘Dye mon, gen mon’ (‘Beyond the mountains, more mountains’). Social theatre, community mobilisation and participation after disasters: The International Organization for Migration experience in Haiti, after January 2010's earthquake
Author/s: Guglielmo Schininà, Justin Voltaire, Amal Ataya, Marie-Adele Salem
In January 2010, IOM was aked to lead the cluster co-ordinatg humanitarian agencies involved in the management of the camps and to provide various forms of assistance, including psychosocial, to the populations living in them. The IOM psychosocial response plan has since focused on community mobilization and participation, and has used the arts and socialtheatre wifdely as tools.

Presumptive Treatment to Reduce Imported Malaria among Refugees from East Africa Resettling in the United States
Author/s: Christina Phares, Bryan Kapella, Annelise Doney, Paul Arguin, Michael Green, Leul Mekonnen, Aleksander Galev, Michelle Weinberg, William Stauffer
Abstract: During May 4, 2007–February 29, 2008, the United States resettled 6,159 refugees from Tanzania. Refugees received pre-departure antimalarial treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), partially supervised (three/six doses) artemether-lumefantrine (AL), or fully supervised AL. Thirty-nine malaria cases were detected. Disease incidence was 15.5/1,000 in the SP group and 3.2/1,000 in the partially supervised AL group (relative change = –79%, 95% confidence…
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