Report on the Seminar on Health

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Report on the Seminar on Health MigrationIOMs
International Dialogue on Migration Geneva, 9-11
June 2004

• D.GRONDIN, MD FRCPC
• DIRECTOR , MIGRATION HEALTH SERVICES
• INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION

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Migration

• Cant be stopped
• Dont want to stop it
• ? Migration will continue as long as
  economic imbalances and conflicts
  exist.

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Migration Health

• not just diseases
• addresses the state of physical, mental and
  social well-being of migrants and mobile
  populations
• (IOM adapted from WHOs definition of health)
• 
  

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Seminar on Health MigrationGeneva, 9-11 June
2004

• http//www.iom.int/en/know/idm/smh_200406.shtml

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• Session I HEALTH MIGRATION CHALLENGES
• What is contemporary migration? Why should
  health be considered in the context of migration?
  What are the key challenges from a global
  perspective? What is at stake from both health
  and migration perspectives? Why should we care?
•  
• Commentator IOM
• Migration perspective (Canada)
• Health perspective (WHO)
• Bridging health and migration (IOM)
• ?

• Discussion ? health screening
• effectiveness,
• ethics discrimination
• applicability
• duality of focus
• migrant. a threat
• migrant. a right to health

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• Session II PUBLIC HEALTH MIGRATION
• A. Population mobility and public health
• What is being done to address the impact of
  population mobility on public health? Why do we
  care? What lessons can we learn? What needs to be
  done?
• Commentator Switzerland
• Globalization of communicable diseases (Canada)
• The case of SARS lessons learnt (Singapore)
• ?

• Discussion
• ? health screening Is it really effective?

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• Session II PUBLIC HEALTH MIGRATION
• B. Managing global public health Partnerships
  and developing bridging public health programs
• What benefits are there to include migrants into
  national and trans-national health schemes? Will
  this help the integration process? What are the
  public health issues of particular vulnerable
  people, such as the trafficked person.
• Commentator Norway
• ? In situation of post-conflict
• Investing in mental health in post-conflict
  rehabilitation (Cambodia)
• ? In situation of economic migration
• Health as a tool for integration (Costa Rica)
• US/Mexico tuberculosis b order health card
  Bilateral TB referral treatment initiative
  (CDC) 
• Public health and trafficking When migration
  goes amok (Romania)
• ?

• Discussion
• Policy dilemmas of managing health in situations
  of irregular migration
• Cultural sensitivity of health care provision
• Investing in mental health.destigmatization

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• Session III MIGRATION and HEALTH POLICIES
• A. Investing in migration health
• What types of regulations exist at
  international and national level to address
  cross-borders health? What are their purposes and
  how effective are they in addressing global
  public health? What are the options for policies
  to provide access to and improve health and
  social services for regular and irregular
  migrants? And what about deportation or voluntary
  return?
•  Commentator Colombia
•  
• The International Health Regulations Updates and
  perspectives (WHO)
• National migration health policies Shifting the
  paradigm from exclusion to inclusion (CDC)
• Health and irregular migration (Australia)
• Health and return migration (Jamaica)
• ?

• Discussion
• Vulnerability ? conditions of the journey
• From policies of exclusion towards inclusion
• .a right to access available
  health services
• Cultural sensitivity of health care provision
• Health a pre-requisite to integration
• Co-responsibilities, complementarity

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• Session III MIGRATION and HEALTH POLICIES
• B. Migration of health care workers
• What are the issues related to the migration of
  health care workers? What are the country
  experiences in managing health workforce
  migration? What are the different policy options
  available to countries in dealing with health
  workforce mobility?
• Commentator IOM
• Global overview of migration of health care
  workers (WHO) 
• Using bilateral arrangements to manage migration
  of health care workers The case of South Africa
  and the United Kingdom (South African United
  Kingdom )
• Using the Diaspora to strengthen health workforce
  capacity (Ghana)
• Exporting health workers to overseas markets
  (India)
• ?

• Discussion
• Negative phenomenon
• How can it be positive?
• Proposals for solutions
• use of the diaspora

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• Session IV The WAY FORWARD
• What is foreseen in the future?
• What progress might be feasible? Can we work
  towards healthier migrants and healthier
  societies?
•  
• Commentator WHO
• Population mobility and health crisis in conflict
  situations (Kuwait)
• Possible solutions to manage migrants health
  Thailands perspective (Thailand)
• HIV/AIDS and population mobility Where to go
  from here (Ethiopia)
• ?

• Discussion
• Migrant stigmatization prejudice
• ... proposals for solutions
• Priority areas
• bridging cultural gaps
• irregular migration
• elderly migrant

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The way forward where can we go from here?

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• Knowing is not enough we must apply.
• Willing is not enough we must do.
• (Goethe)