Migration Health

Regional Overview 

Migration Health Division (MHD) in the Middle East and North Africa region delivers and promotes comprehensive, preventive and curative health programmes which are beneficial, accessible, and equitable for migrants and mobile populations. Bridging the needs of both migrants and IOM member states, MHD, in close collaboration with partners such as Ministries of Health and World Health Organization (WHO), contributes towards the physical, mental and social well-being of migrants, enabling them and host communities to achieve social and economic development. 

Key areas of health work include, but not limited to: advancing universal health coverage (UHC) by ensuring migrants and migration are integrated in national health policies and systems, providing life-saving health care services in humanitarian settings, and conducting health assessments for migrants.

With over 1,000 health staff on the ground in 11 countries in the region, IOM has been providing approximately one million consultations annually for both migrants and host communities through over 130 health facilities and 250 mobile teams, conducting over 34,000 health promotion sessions, supporting over 8,600 deliveries, training over 1,000 healthcare workers, and providing routine immunization for 71,000 people.

Examples of on-going health projects include:

•    Global Fund Middle East Response (Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria): essential HIV, TB and malaria services to key/vulnerable populations including refugees and IDPs

•    UHC advocacy and operationalization: policy dialogues, capacity building, best practice exchanges, research and data collection (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Sudan) 

•    COVID-19 response: coordination, risk community and community engagement, case management, infection prevention and control, surveillance, vaccination support (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain) 

•    Life-saving health response: through primary health care facilities and mobile clinics, referrals, outbreak response, mental health and psychosocial support, capacity building (Yemen, Iraq, Sudan, Libya)

These projects work closely with non-health sectors and address the social determinants of health as well as contribute to broader global health framework and priorities such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), World Health Assembly Resolutions (WHA 61.17 and 70.15), International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), and global health security agenda.

The current strategic priorities for migration health programme in the region include: advancing UHC to leave no one behind, enhancing emergency health preparedness and response capacity at the point of entry and along with the mobility corridors based on IOM’s Health, Border and Migration Management (HBMM) framework, addressing the impact of climate change on health of migrants, enhancing data and research capacity by integrating mobility and epidemiological data to better inform evidence-based migration health interventions, and strengthening partnerships at all levels through joint workplan and activities.