Summary

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) actively collaborates with different stakeholders and partners globally to enhance rapid detection and response mechanisms for disease outbreaks, with an approach anchored in a comprehensive understanding of human mobility dynamics. The movements of populations, including the points of origin, transit, destination, and return, encapsulate mobility within and across borders.

Background

The evidence on the use of Antigen-Rapid Diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) for SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) in settings with displaced populations (refugees and migrants) is limited. In Lebanon, a project for introducing Ag-RDTs among refugees and migrants was implemented between August and November 2022.  We describe the uptake and performance of Ag-RDTs in these settings.

Material and Methods

Abstract

Introduction. Displaced persons in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo were not spared from Covid-19. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with vaccine acceptance among displaced persons.

Materials and methods. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among displaced persons in camps supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, and Tanganyika. The data were analyzed using SPSS 27.

This issue of the Bulletin features publications focusing on migration data, migration health research priorities, and infectious diseases including tuberculosis and COVID-19.

The audio podcast episode centers on the key findings from an IOM study, conducted in collaboration with FIND and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of three commercially available computer-aided detection systems for detecting tuberculosis.

To communicate with U.S.-bound refugees during travel to the United States during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, five federal and international organizations collaborated in a strategic work group to synergize COVID-19 prevention health messaging and COVID-19 considerations before, during, and after travel, as well as promote shared resources. This work group sought to establish consistent COVID-19 messaging, disseminate messages to partners, and identify message gaps as the pandemic evolved.

This research report explores and critically examines the short- and longer-term gender implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on migration and the well-being of migrants worldwide. This research report aims to inform ongoing policy and programmatic responses to the pandemic and highlights best practices and challenges.

Surveillance is a pillar of the public health response to epidemics and pandemics. Yet, gaps in surveillance, from the local to the global, continue to leave the world vulnerable to infectious hazards. To address these vulnerabilities, the health emergency preparedness, response, and resilience (HEPR) architecture calls for a new approach to future surveillance - collaborative surveillance - that aligns traditional tactics with new initiatives to safeguard health for all.

Background: Pandemic response and preparedness plans aim at mitigating the spread of infectious diseases and protecting public health, but migrants are often side-lined. Evidence amounted early that migrants are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. However, synthesised evidence is lacking that quantifies the inequalities in infection risk and disease outcomes, or contextualises the consequences of pandemic measures and their underlying mechanisms.