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Climate change, migration, and zoonoses in the East and Horn of Africa region: A call for action

This technical brief presents an overview of the available evidence connecting climate change, migration, and zoonotic disease risk in East and Horn of Africa, highlighting the gaps in policy and programming for the human mobility and global health security nexus, and providing key recommendations to policymakers and implementing agencies.

Migration Health Research Bulletin, Issue No. 26

The issue of the Bulletin features articles, reports, and technical briefs focusing on migrants’ access to healthcare information and services, health impacts of air pollution, as well as syndromic screening, and disease surveillance.

The audio podcast episode outlines the findings of a desk review to determine the rights of migrants to access healthcare services in the 16 Southern African Development Community Member States as well as an overview of the health challenges faced by…

Governance for the validation of elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B virus: an overview of validation structures and responsibilities at national, regional and global levels

Achieving validation of elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a tremendous accomplishment, requiring health ministry-led accountability, rigorous data analysis, intensive programme assessment, and multi-level collaboration.

This governance guidance outlines the standardized structures and processes used to validate EMTCT of HIV, syphilis, and HBV at the national, regional, and global levels. Replacing an earlier version…

Migration Health 2020 Impact Overview

This report is an annual overview of activities led and implemented by the Migration Health Division of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2020, in partnership with Member States, United Nations agencies and other partners in the international community, to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, meet the operational challenges and advance understanding of migration health, encourage socioeconomic development through migration, and work towards ensuring respect of the human…

Health, Border and Mobility Management Framework: A Framework to Empower Governments and Communities to Prevent, Detect and Respond to Public Health Threats along the Mobility Continuum

The Health, Border and Mobility Management (HBMM) Framework articulates IOM’s strategic role and objectives in the prevention, detection, and response to communicable diseases in the context of widespread and multi-directional human mobility. It provides an action framework for IOM to undertake activities related to health, border, and mobility management and serves as a reference for the IOM Member States and partners to understand the Organization’s role and contributions in this area of…

Migration Health Research Bulletin, Issue No. 19

This issue of the Bulletin features peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, reports, and commentaries focusing on some of IOM’s migration health programmes such as mental health and psychosocial support, vaccination, tuberculosis screening, and public health emergency management.

Two interviews are included in the current episode of the audio podcast: one on the vaccination programme for US-bound refugees globally and the other on migration health governance in Africa.

Health profile of pediatric Special Immigrant Visa holders arriving from Iraq and Afghanistan to the United States, 2009–2017: A cross-sectional analysis

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…

Neglect of low-income migrants in COVID-19 response

South Asia, home to around a quarter of the world’s population and 40% of the world’s poor, is being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The global response to the pandemic has focused mainly on containment of the contagion and “flattening the curve” through testing and strict social distancing, but these universal approaches fail to take account of resource limitations in countries in South Asia and ignore the realities of vulnerable populations, such as low-income migrants, internally…

National preparedness and response plans for COVID-19 and other diseases: Why migrants should be included

Slogans such as “this viral pandemic respects no borders” or “this is an equal opportunity virus” are often echoed across media platforms and by officials. However, the true impact of pandemics like COVID-19 is rarely homogenous. The spread of the disease and its outcomes affect different persons in different circumstances and at different times in various ways. The interplay between the pathogen, host, and the environment shapes transmission dynamics. This granularity is key to…

Targeting COVID-19 interventions towards migrants in humanitarian settings

Millions of refugees and migrants reside in countries devastated by protracted conflicts with weakened health systems, and in countries where they are forced to live in substandard conditions in camps and compounds, and high-density slum settings. Although many such settings have yet to feel the full impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the pandemic is now having an unprecedented impact on mobility, in terms of border and migration management, as well as on the health, social, and…