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.

Coverage of migrant and refugee data is incomplete and of insufficient quality in European health information systems. This is not because we lack the knowledge or technology. Rather, it is due to various political factors at local, national and European levels, which hinder the implementation of existing knowledge and guidelines. This reflects the low political priority given to the topic, and also complex governance challenges associated with migration and displacement.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Migration Health Assessment Programme (HAP), as part of the Migration Health Division, delivers pre-migration health activities as one of the most well-established and longest-standing services provided by the Organization. These activities are undertaken in the context of regular international migration at the request of receiving country governments and vary in scope according to the receiving country protocols and the epidemiological profile of the country of origin.

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.

Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis on 24 February 2022, WHO has supported Government-led efforts and initiatives alongside key partners on the ground.

Populations affected by emergencies are continually at risk of outbreaks of epidemic-prone diseases and other public health hazards. This operational guidance aims to guide decision-making on when and how to implement and strengthen Early Warning Alert and Response (EWAR) in preparation for and response to emergencies. Each module aims to provide updated operational guidance for EWAR practices, which may be more easily understood and applied during emergencies. Through its application, this operational guidance aims to contribute to:

This publication is a compendium of 49 country examples highlighting efforts in improving refugees’ and migrants’ health following the adoption of the WHO Global Action Plan on Promoting the health of refugees and migrants at the seventy-second World Health Assembly, in May 2019.

The realization of universal health coverage (UHC), one that leaves no migrant behind, requires innovative, evidence-based policies and sustainable financial mechanisms that emphasize whole-of society and whole-of-government actions, and involve migrants, including health workers, as co-developers of health services. Being and staying healthy is a fundamental precondition for migrants to be productive and contribute to the social and economic development of communities of origin and destination.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, some countries have been performing syndromic screening of travellers who cross land borders.  Methods include screening for fever and respiratory or other symptoms, observation and completion of health declaration forms. Communities neighbouring land borders are often very closely connected by economic and social activities and family ties and many travellers cross land borders daily or more.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a global mobility deadlock with nearly all international borders closed for non-essential travel, left migrants in countries of destination acutely vulnerable with risks to health, as well as socioeconomic and social security status, compounded by diverging measures and impacts on mobility.