Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health’s Post

👏 On behalf of the Pan American Health Organization (#PAHO), I am pleased to share the report “Challenges in Access to Health for Migrants Transiting the Darien Region.” 📖 This document highlights the #health #risks faced by #migrants and the challenges for both #transit and destination countries. 🤝 Developed by PAHO/WHO representation teams in Panama and Colombia, the report outlines the public health context, presents recent data, and provides recommendations to improve #access to #healthservices for this #vulnerablepopulation. Gina Tambini Mauricio Cerpa Juan Carlos Quintero Laura Tatiana Osorio Rubiano

👏 📖 This document highlights the #health #risks faced by #migrants and the challenges for both #transit and destination countries.

"Ensuring equitable health systems for migrants requires not only addressing the barriers particular to international migrants, but also any preexisting health inequities in host countries. Large-scale or rapid migration can overwhelm many aspects of a health system, particularly in already underserved areas and populations. While the influx of migrants may be viewed as a shock to the health system, it can also be leveraged as an opportunity. Supporting the adaptability and resilience of the system to manage the challenge of migration has the potential to strengthen the inclusiveness and sustainability of the health system as a whole, for migrants and nationals alike." Local Health System Sustainability Project (LHSS) #ComunidadesSaludables USAID Colombia More information in: https://lnkd.in/exBpur_j

The ReBUILD team is embarking on new several new health systems resilience studies, all funded through our responsive fund, which we will tell you about over the coming week. Today's study comes from the Burnet Institute team in #Myanmar - 'Liminal health systems: health seeking behaviour of migrants and internally displaced people from Myanmar along the Thailand-Myanmar border' (details here https://lnkd.in/eRSz9Nvm). The study - which is being conducted with Community Partners International - aims to document the complex web of health systems used by Myanmar’s migrants and internally displaced populations on both sides of the Thailand-Myanmar border in the Mae Sot/Myawaddy area. Even before the military coup in February 2021, there was considerable cross-border movement between Myanmar and Thailand. This has increased since, with a patchwork of actors supporting healthcare service provision for displaced people on both sides of the border. This research seeks to strengthen understanding of the liminal health system and identify opportunities for collaboration among local stakeholders. The study also hopes to equip local health actors with information to develop advocacy tools to leverage support for local communities. Also, as the conflict context continues to evolve, an understanding of the resilience mechanisms of this health system, and the coping strategies of local communities to shocks and stressors, will be valuable in identifying target areas that can be leveraged to effect change in times of prolonged crisis. There's more on the study, including specific research questions, here: https://lnkd.in/eRSz9Nvm Image: Kyu Kyu Than from Burnet Institute introduces an inception workshop conducted by the research team from Burnet and CPI. The session involved key health actors who are working along the Thai-Myanmar border and helped them to explore methods for the identification and selection of participants for inclusion in the study. Participants included Myanmar nationals who are refugees or internally displaced and Thai-Myanmar border health service users and providers of all genders. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Institute for Global Health and Development, QMU Sophie Witter Karin Diaconu Lucas Sempé Ghanshyam Gautam, PhD HERD International Thazin La Rouham Yamout Charafeddine Alaa Dafallah

My paper has just come out! I interviewed fifteen stakeholders to identify the healthcare needs of refugees resettled in the United States. The findings revealed major themes such as limited understanding of preventive healthcare, high prevalence and suboptimal management of chronic illnesses, the complexity of the healthcare system, and a lack of follow-up. The peer educator approach emerged as one of the most promising ways - and I hope to develop an intervention around it! https://lnkd.in/gAsyTzcd

Today is #WorldHealthDay, an event which draws attention to a specific health topic of concern each year. This year, the theme recognises the many conflicts taking globally and focuses on the right to health, even in the face of serious emergencies. For healthcare professionals, it’s important to understand how to support patients from refugee backgrounds. Here are Dr Larissa Wale from Monash Health Refugee Health and Wellbeing Service's best tips for helping to achieve the best health outcomes for refugee patients: https://lnkd.in/g6aeQ_EP

Grateful to have been brought in to help with the qualitative analysis on this paper! TL;DR - Many refugees come from contexts with fragile health systems, landing many in the US with limited familiarity with preventive care and poorly managed chronic health conditions. The complexity of the US health system, and other systemic barriers, prevent refugees from addressing these needs once resettled. https://lnkd.in/deecA6wj

An accurate diagnosis. "International humanitarian law is routinely being broken with impunity in conflicts globally. Populism tinged with anti-refugee discourse has led to a weakening of asylum and refugee law in many countries. 1 While special protection of hospitals and ambulances was previously largely respected by warring parties under the Geneva Conventions, attacks on health care have become the norm. 2 With conflict-related deaths at a 26-year record high 3 and more than 110 million people forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of June, 2023, 4 the humanitarian system is overwhelmed, despite increases in humanitarian support from public and private donors. 5 As one of us (PBS) wrote in The Lancet in 2017: “An unprecedented number of humanitarian emergencies of large magnitude and duration is causing the largest number of people in a generation to be forcibly displaced. Yet the existing humanitarian system was created for a different time and is no longer fit for purpose.” 6 Since then, the situation has become worse. The creeping normalisation of violations of international humanitarian law and refugee law and insufficient accountability of humanitarian organisations to affected persons must be rejected. The humanitarian system needs to be reimagined with the priorities of the affected communities at its centre."

Our PhD candidate, Maisoon ELBUKHARI IBRAHIM, has just published a blog on the humanitarian health situation in her country, Sudan, following our latest paper in the Lancet Global Health on the resilience of the health system. Discover the blog and article! https://lnkd.in/eNwdNyNg The Lancet

Excited to share with you my latest article on Thesocialtalks. I write about the difficulties of access to healthcare for migrants in Italy, go read it!