In association with the Health Protection Agency and with support from the Hospital of Tropical Diseases
The Migrant Health conference took place from 25th - 27th January, 2012
Today approximately one in every 35 people in the world is a migrant and more people are on the move than at any other point in human history, with 214 million international migrants globally in 2010. The current annual growth rate in the number of international migrants is 2.9 per cent and is predicted to rise further as a result of demographic changes, economic factors, socio-political and environmental factors.
The health of migrants and health matters associated with migration are crucial public health challenges faced by all Governments and societies. In recognition of this the World Health Assembly endorsed a Resolution on the Health of Migrants in May 2008. Three of the key themes of this resolution were:
- Monitoring migrant health
- Policy and legal frameworks affecting migrants’ health
- Migrant sensitive health systems
A World Health Organisation global consultation meeting took place in March 2010 to outline an operational framework to implement the principles and priorities expressed in the World Health Assembly resolution - see the report here.
This UK focussed conference, based around the three key themes above, reviewed where we currently are in this country in relation to the World Health Assembly resolution and will make recommendations for action is both timely and helpful. It sought to ask: what do we know about the health of migrants in the UK and are their health needs being met? How does the UK measure up with respect to global recommendations? What improvements are needed and how can these be taken forward?
Outcomes
The conference aimed to report on the UK position in relation to three key themes of the WHA resolution on migrant health, make recommendations for further action and perhaps raise parliamentary questions about the issues.
A summary report summarising the findings of the conference can be downloaded from the link on the right of this page.
A Health Protection Agency report is forthcoming.
An article written by Migrant Health delegate Tony Delamothe, deputy editor, BMJ, may also be of interest to readers: 'Migrant healthcare: public health versus politics'. Access is restricted to subscribers or is available on purchase.
Speakers
Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England
Dr Martin Ruhs, Director of the Migration Observatory, University of Oxford
Dr Davide Mosca, Director, Migration Health Department, International Organisation for Migration
Dr Daniel Lopez-Acuna, Adviser to the Director-General, World Health Organisation
David Pennington, Policy, Head of Overseas Visitors, Department of Health
Dr Graham Bickler, Regional Director South-East, Health Protection Agency
Dr Bernd Rechel, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
Andreas Pretzell, Barrister-at-Law, Lamb Building
Professor Kate O'Donnell, Primary Care R&D, University of Glasgow
Fizza Qureshi, Programme Manager, Project:London
Jane Fisher, Director of Antenatal Results and Choices
Professor Rachel Tribe, Professor of Psychology, University of East London
Dr Cathy Zimmerman, Lecturer of Gender, Violence and Health Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Dr Jane Jones, Consultant Epidemiologist and Head of Travel and Migrant Health Section, Health Protection Agency
Professor James Nazroo, Professor of Sociology, Manchester University and Director, Cathy Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research
