View source for 122. Migration and catastrophes, medical and occupational health considerations

* General about migration
** 3,5% of the world population lives outside their home country
** Legal migration
*** Healthy migrant effect = legal migrants are usually young and healthy people and therefore healthier than the population they migrate to
** Illegal/irregular migration
** Nearly half of migrants are hoping to find work
** Migrants are essential to uphold the population in Europe as the fertility rate is low
* Health considerations of immigration into EU
** Most immigrants are from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.
** The prevalence of certain diseases may be many times higher in the country of origin than the host country
*** TB, AIDS, etc.
** Certain diseases from the country of origin may be much less common in the host country
*** This makes it less likely that physicians will recognize the disease
*** There will also be less experience in treating the disease
** Certain diseases may manifest differently in different ethnicities
*** For example, varicella in blacks
** Migrant reception centres are good places for outbreaks
*** Measles, pertussis, cholera, etc.
*** Due to under-immunization, poor hygiene, close contact, etc.
** Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD)
*** Communicable diseases which are eradicated in the host country but not in the country of origin
*** Diphtheria, pertussis, measles, poliomyelitis, etc.
*** Some of the countries which are the only ones in the world with certain VPDs have large out-migration
**** For example, Sudan and Afghanistan have many cases of poliomyelitis
*** Due to anti-vaccination movements the vaccine coverage of certain diseases (especially measles) is poor in certain regions of the EU, providing good grounds for an outbreak
*** The vaccination coverage of many countries of origin is poor
**** HAV, HBV, polio
** Vaccination of children of foreign nationality
*** Migrant children who stay in Hungary for more than 3 months should receive the outstanding, age-appropriate vaccinations according to the national schedule
*** Not all countries include migrants and refugees in their national immunization programmes
** Health care workers should be completely immunized according to their national schedule
** Upon entry, the migrants only undergo a brief ectoparasite screening before being placed in the community
*** Reception centre in Debrecen is an exception; they undergo more rigorous screening of STDs, HIV, salmonella, HBV, HCV, TB, etc.
* Migrant and occupational health
** Includes both occupational health issues of the migrant workforce and the occupation health of those working with migrants
** Occupational health of those working with migrants
*** Department of Public Health at POTE has since 2013 conducted research in national migrant infrastructure and the occupational health of staff who work with migrants
**** 40% of the study population are sometimes exposed to human samples (blood, urine, faeces) at work
**** 35 – 50% of the study population experienced verbal violence regularly
**** 50% of the study population said that they have poor awareness of symptoms of infectious disease
**** When asked about mode of transmission of certain infectious diseases, only 45% could answer more than 75% of the questions correctly
** Occupational health of the migrant workforce
*** Migrant workers are subject to uncertainty, poor working conditions, low wages
*** They’re often overqualified for their low-skilled jobs
**** Migrants are overrepresented in low-wage, low-skill jobs
*** They have little knowledge of their employment rights
*** Migrant workers are overrepresented in industrial accidents and occupational diseases like hearing loss, silicosis, musculoskeletal disorders, etc.
*** An Italian journalist pretended to be a Romanian illegal worker in a tomato field in Italy
**** He had no water or electricity and lived in poor hygienic conditions
**** He worked 14 hours a day
**** Two men slept on one mattress on the floor
**** Men had to provide the boss a woman to screw in order to get a job
*** Prevention/improvement
**** Provide migrants with information on their employment rights
**** Protect the health and working conditions of migrants
**** Provide better integration of migrants and their families
**** Train health workers on working with migrants

[[Category:Public health 6 - Occupational hygiene and occupational medicine]]