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Lessons learned for surveillance system strengthening through capacity building and partnership engagement in post-Ebola Guinea, 2015–2019

The 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in Guinea revealed systematic weaknesses in the existing disease surveillance system, which contributed to delayed detection, underreporting of cases, widespread transmission in Guinea and cross-border transmission to neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia, leading to the largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded. Efforts to understand the epidemic's scale and distribution were hindered by problems with data completeness, accuracy, and reliability. In 2017, recognizing…

Immunisation status of UK-bound refugees between January, 2018, and October, 2019: a retrospective, population-based cross-sectional study

Summary

Background
WHO’s new Immunization Agenda 2030 places a focus on ensuring migrants and other marginalised groups are offered catch-up vaccinations across the life-course. Yet, it is not known to what extent specific groups, such as refugees, are immunised according to host country schedules, and the implications for policy and practice. We aimed to assess the immunisation coverage of UK-bound refugees undergoing International Organization for…

Epidemiological progression of COVID-19 positive cases among transnational truck drivers in the East African Region

COVID-19 triggered a range of border controls to curb the spread of the disease. Containment measures and restrictions were put in place to mitigate cross-border transmission while maintaining the flow of essential goods and services in the East and Horn of Africa Region. The first cases of COVID-19 detection among truck drivers, triggered and strengthened cross-border collaboration for detecting and responding to COVID-19 pandemic. Infection was significantly common among truck drivers in…

‘It is a disease which comes and kills directly’: What refugees know about COVID-19 and key influences of compliance with preventive measures

Abstract

Background
Refugees are at increased risk for COVID-19 infection in part due to their living conditions, which make it harder to adopt and adhere to widely accepted preventive measures. Little empirical evidence exists about what refugees know about COVID-19 and what they do to prevent infection. This study explored what refugee women and their health care workers understand about COVID-19 prevention, the extent of their compliance to public health…

Refugees, migrants, internally displaced people and COVID-19: protocol for an updated systematic review

The review protocol is in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, & Altman, 2009), and is essentially an update of the protocol (Hintermeier et al., 2020) of a previously published review on the topic (Hintermeier et al., 2021).

The search strategy is twofold. Firstly, we will use the database provided by the WHO of global literature on coronavirus disease (https://search.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-…

Understanding health inequities among transiting migrants within the Middle East and North African (MENA) region through strengthening data systems

The editorial argues that failure to integrate migration variables within the health information systems in many countries in the MENA region means that, to date, there has been an absence of comprehensive and disaggregated epidemiological data on infectious disease prevalence (including COVID-19), outbreaks, and vaccine coverage, making it difficult to map health disparities and inform evidence-based policy and service delivery.

Population movements, borders, and Chagas disease

Abstract

Currently, Chagas disease is a complex global health problem with local and global implications. In the present article, we approach this complexity from the perspective of human mobility and its effects on people's health in places of origin and in transit and destination. We raise key concepts such as human mobility-understood as a possible socio-structural and economic determination of health-, the associated social and institutional barriers, and the processes of social…

Migrant health is public health: a call for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) there are about 1 billion international and internal migrants worldwide, and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that 80 million migrants are forcibly displaced. Inclusion of these populations in COVID-19 vaccination plans is essential. 

Public health emergency management capacity building in Guinea: 2014-2019

Abstract

Before the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak of 2014-2016, Guinea did not have an emergency management system in place. During the outbreak, Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) 2014-2019 funds made it possible to rapidly improve the country's capacity to manage epidemics through the development of public health emergency operation centres (PHEOCs) at the national and district levels. Since the end of the response, the infrastructure, staff, and systems of these…

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…