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“We have a lot of home deliveries” A qualitative study on the impact of COVID-19 on access to and utilization of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health care among refugee women in urban Eastleigh, Kenya

Background
Little is known about how pregnant refugee women, and the frontline health care workers who serve them, are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of health, and health service access. Women refugees are classified as a vulnerable group with regard to pregnancy outcomes and access to maternal care and may be disproportionally at risk for COVID-19 infection as they are likely to face unique barriers to information and access to reproductive health services during…

Migration Health Research Bulletin, Issue No. 18

The Bulletin features recent publications stemming from IOM’s health-related programming globally – for instance, the migration health assessment programme and the mental health and psychosocial support program (MHPSS). Further, this issue showcases a number of publications and forums pertaining to COVID-19 at the nexus of research, health policy, and public health practice.

The audio podcast episode features an interview with IOM’s Dr. Olga Gorbacheva on the importance of following…

An immunization program for US-bound refugees: Development, challenges, and opportunities 2012–present

Background
US-bound refugees undergo required health assessments overseas to identify and treat communicable diseases of public health significance—such as pulmonary tuberculosis—before migration. Immunizations are not required, leaving refugees at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases. In response, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of State developed and co-funded a global immunization program for US-bound refugees, implemented in 2012 in…

Reaching out to migrant households during COVID-19 outbreak: the increasing need of social workers in Cambodia

Cambodia, a lower-middle-income country in Southeast Asia, reported 275 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Despite lower reported cases, COVID-19 impacts Cambodian socio-economic systems in profound ways. With more than 1.1 million Cambodians having migrated abroad and low-income families in rural Cambodia relying heavily on remittances, the sudden loss of jobs caused by the pandemic raised an important question on how migrant households are prioritized among the rising society-wide needs. Given…

Migration Health 2019 Activities Overview

This overview showcases only some of the key activities implemented in 2019 across the world, in lower-income settings and in complex emergencies, along the world’s most perilous migration routes, in the aftermath of natural disasters, or in response to disease outbreaks. 

Assessing the health literacy and health communication needs of Syrian refugees in Turkey

Health literacy in health care is crucial to achieving a reduction in child mortality, improving maternal health, combating infectious diseases, and improving health outcomes. However, refugees and migrants may have lower health literacy than the host community, most often due to poor access to educational resources and information programmes, and related to economic, social, and language barriers. Refugees may also have difficulty interacting with health information due to low literacy…

Migration and health. In: Adepoju A., Fumagalli C., Nyabola N. (eds) Africa Migration Report: Challenging the narrative

The relationship between migration and health is explored, including resilience, vulnerability, and social determinants of health throughout the migration cycle. The chapter maintains that migration health governance should include the control of communicable diseases, health security, universal health coverage (UHC), and migration-responsive systems, which are all critical to health security, public health, and development. Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), African Union’s…

Pre-migration TB screening-the first step is always the hardest

Abstract

As the proportion of foreign-born persons among TB notifications continues to rise, Japan is preparing to introduce pre-migration TB screening for those coming from selected countries, who are intending to stay for more than 90 days. It has announced that the programme will commence in 2020. In this review, the authors examine the experiences from two countries which already have years of experience in operating pre-migration TB screening, namely the United Kingdom…

COVID-19 testing acceptability and uptake amongst the Rohingya and host community in Camp 21, Teknaf, Bangladesh

Abstract
Facility-based sentinel testing for COVID-19 was implemented in May 2020 to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 amongst the Rohingya and host community in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. In response both to low uptake of testing across all camps, and rumours of an outbreak of an influenza-like illness in May/June 2020, the International Organization for Migration (in partnership with ACAPS) undertook a qualitative study to collect accounts from the Rohingya relating to…

Health of refugees and migrants from former Soviet Union countries in the Russian Federation: a narrative review

Abstract

This narrative review was conducted to synthesize and summarize available up-to-date evidence on current health status, including both non-communicable diseases and infectious diseases, of migrants and refugees from the former Soviet Union countries in the Russian Federation. Epidemiological and sociological studies with one or more determinants of the health, as well as relevant qualitative studies characterizing risk factors, well-being indicators, and lifestyles…