WHO Report on health of refugees, migrants in Europe to be launched on Jan 21

The report also challenges some preconceived notions that are widely held by host communities about the health of migrant and refugee populations and provides receiving countries with strong evidence to target their interventions.

The first-ever Report on the health of refugees and migrants in the WHO European Region will be launched in Geneva, Switzerland, on 21 January 2019. It reveals that migrants and refugees are at higher risk of falling ill while in transit or while living in receiving countries due to changes in living conditions and adapted lifestyle choices.

The report also challenges some preconceived notions that are widely held by host communities about the health of migrant and refugee populations and provides receiving countries with strong evidence to target their interventions.

The report reaffirms that refugees and migrants are entitled to the same human right to health as everyone else in the Region while acknowledging that in the current febrile atmosphere across the continent, political and social systems may struggle to rise to the challenges of displacement and migration in a humane and positive way.

The new report, developed in partnership with the Italian National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (INMP), brings together for the first time the latest evidence on the health of migrants and refugees from across the Region, drawn from 13 000 documents, and charts the progress countries are making to improve the health of migrant populations.

WHEN: 13:00 CET, 21 January 2019

WHERE: Room III, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland