Study of Migrations as a Public Health Issue

Abstract

Migrations are temporary or permanent changes of place of residence, and migrants are persons who temporarily or permanently leave their home or their country, depending on whether they are migrations inside or outside the country. The reasons for migration are different: economic, political, natural disasters and wars. About 3.6% of the world’s population lives outside their place of residence, and the number of migrants is constantly increasing, and it is estimated that in 2050 there will be 405 million migrants in the world. Migrations are the displacement of people, but also the mobility of cultures, health habits and epidemiological factors and risks, and contribute to the increase in the number of infectious and non-communicable diseases among migrants and the local population in the countries they pass through or continue to live in. The aim is to point out the importance of migration as a public health problem that affects migrants, but also the local population. Methods: Review of scientific literature and reports of relevant institutions on the impact of migration on the occurrence of the disease in population. Results: Migrants are all ages, except very old people, they are of both sexes, but there are more men who leave their country of birth for different reasons. A special problem are children who migrate unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. The occurrence of diseases in migrants is influenced by: personal characteristics of migrants, reasons for migration, ways of migration, the season in which migrations occur, hygienic and sanitary conditions in the areas through which migrants pass and conditions at the final destination. Economic migrations have the least impact on health because they happen according to plan, migrants travel with adequate transportation, have accommodation and work at their final destination. Unplanned migrations caused by wars, natural disasters, or some political reasons have a great negative impact on health. The health of these migrants is at great risk because they travel by unsafe means of transport, without documents, including health identification cards, cross the borders illegally and stay illegally in the countries of transit and the host country. This category of migrants does not have adequate accommodation, nor adequate access to health care, they are under constant stress which affects the onset of the disease. Migrants live in groups, so infectious diseases are easily spread among them, and they are also transmitted to the local population. Due to the inadequate approach to health care, the diagnosis of diseases, infectious and especially non-infectious, is made late in migrants, so treatment is often delayed. Linguistic and cultural barriers are a big problem for migrants in exercising their rights. Conclusion: Migration is a significant public health problem today and should be addressed in a systematic way with the involvement of whole community.