Russia's targeting of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine has disrupted access to health care throughout the country. On March 4, 2022, the EU enacted a Temporary Protection Directive that granted residency, social assistance, and comprehensive medical coverage to Ukrainian refugees and third-country nationals in any of its member states. However, some refugees with cancer are unable or unwilling to travel long distances to countries beyond their immediate borders because of factors such as old age and restricted mobility.

A steady economic growth over the last two decades in Cambodia and the ASEAN region has contributed to an increase in internal and international migration in search of better employment and livelihood opportunities.

The Eastern and Horn of Africa region remains one of the most dynamic regions of the world in terms of migration caused by an evolving complex of economic, social, and security interplay. Migrants and mobile populations continue to face many obstacles in accessing essential healthcare services including migration status, language barriers, lack of migrant-inclusive healthcare laws and policies, inaccessibility of services, and the inability of the receiving country to afford addressing their welfare.

Over 281 million people around the world are counted as international migrants. Many migrants are forcibly displaced – with 36.4 million refugees and 6.1 million asylum-seekers by mid-2023. Furthermore, there were 62.5 million internally displaced people at the end of 2022. While many of these migrants are healthy, many, in particular refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced people, are at risk of poor health outcomes and often experience health-related inequities, facing little or no access to health care.

The issue of the Bulletin features publications on migration, zoonoses, infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, mental health, among others.

The audio podcast episode discusses the importance of the inclusion of migrants into policies and actions towards zoonotic disease prevention and control as well as outlines guidance on the integration of migration into health interventions.

Background: Migration and health are increasingly recognised as a global public health priority, but concerns have been raised on the skewed nature of current research and the potential disconnect between health needs and policy and governance responses. The Migration Health South Asia (MiHSA) network led the first systematic research priority-setting exercise for India, aligned with the global call to develop a clearly defined migration health research agenda that will inform research investments and guide migrant-responsive policies by the year 2030.

Irregular migrants belong to the most vulnerable migrant groups. Health threats associated with an irregular status are high, and access to health services is severely restricted globally. Concerning migration aspects, a common public narrative for Europe and Africa is that Africa is sending thousands of migrants to embark on an irregular life-threatening journey of migration to Europe every year. Although this is a well documented reality, it is by far not the most important migration pattern in terms of numbers and health threats when looking at Africa.

Introduction: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is characterised by high and complex migration flows, yet little is known about the health of migrant populations, their levels of under-immunisation, and access to healthcare provision. Data are needed to support regional elimination and control targets for key diseases and the design and delivery of programmes to improve health outcomes in these groups.

This is the fifth report of the Global Evidence Review on Health and Migration (GEHM) series. The publication focuses on the mental health needs of refugees and migrants by providing an overview of the available evidence on patterns of risk and protective factors and of facilitators and barriers to care at all levels (individual, family, community and national government).

This report is an annual overview of activities led and implemented by the Migration Health Division of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2022, in close collaboration with Member States, other United Nations agencies, and partners, to respond to major health needs in the context of human mobility, meet operational challenges and advance understanding of migration health, encourage socioeconomic development through migration, and work towards ensuring respect of the human dignity and well-being of migrants.