IOM’s health response to humanitarian and public health emergencies aims to save lives, reduce morbidity and alleviate suffering while upholding humanitarian principles and protect human dignity. IOM’s programming in this domain encompasses the various stages and typologies of emergencies, throughout all the phases of the mobility continuum. 

With migration being a determinant of health, IOM works to specifically aid the health of displaced populations. Hazardous traveling conditions, overcrowding, and limited access to proper hygiene and sanitation can increase a migrant’s vulnerability to disease, particularly communicable diseases. Yet, displacement can also exacerbate the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). During displacement, the limited access to healthcare throughout travel can delay diagnosis or deplete medications.

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) features health as a cross-cutting priority with references to health and healthcare access in several objectives.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is prone to natural and man-made disasters which often lead to destruction of property and internal displacement. In PNG, internally displaced persons (IDPs) have emerged largely as a result of natural disasters, impacts of climate change, tribal conflicts and land disputes. This year the country has witnessed displacements in different parts of the country including the nation’s capital, Port Moresby, where a fire incident left 250 people homeless.

Nearly 30 years ago, the HIV epidemic was first identified as a major problem along East Africa’s road axes. While transport corridors are no longer the primary source of new infections in Kenya, they remain a significant driver of the epidemic. The Government of Kenya has therefore prioritized populations along transport corridors as among “the most important most-at-risk populations that are not adequately covered by the national HIV prevention strategy” (NACC, 2009).

At the International Dialogue on Migration: High-level Conference on Migrants and Cities, organized by IOM and held on October 26-27 in Geneva, the Migrants and cities: partnership in health panel session was presented. The conference brought ministers, high-level government officials, mayors, local authorities, the private sector and civil society organizations together to discuss the complex dynamics of human mobility at city and local levels and how risks can be managed and development opportunities maximized.

On September 17th IOM Sudan, in close cooperation and coordination with the State Ministry of Health’s Emergency Preparedness and Humanitarian Action (EHA), conducted one day health and hygiene training in EL-Sereif camp, South Darfur, home to thousands of migrants. The training was a joint response to a recent August outbreak of Acute Jaundice Syndrome (AJS) and an upsurge of scabies cases attributed to poor hygiene. 

•  Between April 22 and 29 2016, through its sub-office in N’Zerekore, IOM organized a series of field visits to meet with administrative and military authorities of Koyama, Kpaou, Zénié, Baala, Wolono. That aim of the visit was to inform the authorities about the set-up of health screening points at different border points of entry and introduce the health screening agents to be deployed at these border entry points. 

• Between May 9 and 13, IOM, in partnership with CDC, launched the first simulation exercise to manage EVD cases at the Madina Oula Point of Entry (PoE), at the border with Sierra Leone. Between May 22 and 26, it launched the second simulation exercise at the PoE of Baala, near Liberia. The main objective of these exercises is to prepare the authorities in charge of the points of entry in detecting, notifying and managing any suspected case of potential epidemic disease, especially EVD cases at their various borders. 

“I left my home in a hurry, and I forgot to carry my month’s supply of medicine. I stayed in the waters for 10 days without medication, leaving me susceptible to opportunistic infections. My colleagues dropped me off at Remba Island as I was too ill to continue with the journey. I was taken to a nearby clinic, but it was difficult getting treatment as I did not have the required medical records with me and I am from another country. When the situation became difficult, I was introduced to paralegals working within the community.