WHO urges South East Asia Region to focus on migrant health

One in seven people globally is a migrant, refugee or an internally displaced person. With countries across the South East Asia Region playing host to large migrant populations, the World Health Organization yesterday called for focused attention to address their health needs.

“Disease is universal and transcends borders and nation states. As health leaders we must tackle the health problems that affect migrant populations. We need to construct better information systems to collect data on the health issues of migrants and institute policy and legal frameworks that facilitate greater healthcare access and create inclusive health systems sensitive to the needs of migrants,” WHO South East Asia Regional Director Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh said while speaking in Colombo.

Health and migration are key concerns of member countries across the region, with Thailand, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia named among the top 10 countries witnessing large movements of people in Asia. Migration poses greater risk and vulnerability to infectious diseases, mental health disorders, maternal and neonatal mortality, substance use, alcoholism, malnutrition, violence and noncommunicable diseases. 

“As migration continues to accelerate at unprecedented levels, we are presented with an opportunity to come together as a region to ensure that migrants are able to access adequate health coverage,” Dr. Singh said.

Mobile populations pose additional challenges to countries often already struggling to cope with day-to-day demands on their healthcare systems. Migrants also encounter obstacles to accessing quality healthcare, as the provision of health services is contingent on their legal and administrative status.

At the WHO Regional Committee meeting in Colombo, member countries shared experiences in addressing this growing regional issue, including the potential of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance spread. 

For example, In response to the issue, Thailand has formulated a ‘Healthy Borders’ approach in the Greater Mekong sub-region, a border area with Laos and Cambodia, which focuses on the prevention and control of tuberculosis, HIV and other prevalent communicable diseases.

Additional concerns raised and discussed included the fact that mobile and migrant populations were uniquely vulnerable to contracting malaria. In February 2016, five South East Asia Region Member countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar and Nepal – came together to enhance cross-border collaboration on malaria elimination efforts.

The Regional Committee is the WHO South East Asia Region’s highest decision-making body and includes health ministers and senior health ministry officials of 11 member countries of the region – Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.