Access to health care for migrants in the Greater Mekong Subregion: policies and legal frameworks and their impact on malaria control in the context of malaria elimination
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Abstract
The launch of the Global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in December 2018 markedthe first-ever United Nations global agreement on a common approach to international migration inall its dimensions. The global compact aims to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities migrants face atdifferent stages of migration, by respecting, protecting and fulfilling their human rights and providingthem with care and assistance. A key example of the intersection of the right to health and migrationis seen in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) – comprising Cambodia, Lao People’s DemocraticRepublic, Myanmar, the People’s Republic of China (Yunnan Province and Guangxi ZhuangAutonomous Region), Thailand and Viet Nam. The GMS has a highly dynamic and complex pattern offluctuating migration, and population mobility has been identified as an important concern in the GMS,since five of the six GMS countries are endemic for malaria. Based on the concept of universal healthcoverage, and as endorsed by the 61st World Health Assembly in 2008, migrants, independently oftheir legal status, should be included in national health schemes. This paper summarizes work doneto understand and address the legal obstacles that migrants face in accessing health services in theGMS countries, and the impact that these obstacles have in relation to elimination of malaria andcontainment of artemisinin resistance. Despite efforts being made towards achieving universal healthcoverage in all the GMS countries, no country has current health and social protection regulationsto ensure migrants’ access to health services, although in Thailand documented and undocumentedmigrants can opt for acquiring health insurance. Additionally, there is a lack of migrant-inclusivelegislation in GMS countries, since barriers to accessing health services for migrants – such aslanguage and/or socioeconomic factors – have been scarcely considered. Advocacy to promotelegislative approaches that include migrants’ health needs has been made at global and regionallevels, to overcome these barriers. Assistance is available to Member States for reviewing andadopting migrant-friendly policies and legal frameworks that promote rather than hinder migrants’ andmobile populations’ access to health services.Citation
Montira Inkochasan, Deyer Gopinath, Estefania Vicario, Aimee Lee & Patrick Duigan. (2019). Access to health care for migrants in the Greater Mekong Subregion: policies and legal frameworks and their impact on malaria control in the context of malaria elimination. WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health, 8 (1), 26 - 34. World Health Organization. Regional Office for South-East Asia. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/329494. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
Journal
WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health, 8 (1): 26 - 34ISSN
2224-3151 (Print)2304-5272 (Electronic)