Migration and Health

Addressing health issues and concerns surrounding the migration process has been a keystone of IOM’s work since 1951. From health assessments to building and strengthening capacities of national health systems, IOM’s migration health response underscores its unique and holistic approach to migration management.

The IOM's Migration Health survey on migrants access to public HIV and tuberculosis (TB) health-care services in South Caucasus, released in 2018, revealed high vulnerability of migrants and mobile populations to communicable diseases. They face strong barriers to TB and HIV screening, testing and treatment, while at the same time experiencing higher risk of contracting disease, high stigma, risk on non-detection, and higher rates of treatment interruption than the general population.

IOM's experience has shown that failing to target the health of migrants has severe consequences for the well-being of migrants as well as their communities of origin, transit and destination. the survey provided a set of recommentations on advancing the intersectoral cooperation at national and tranregional level to advance the migrant-oriented health-care services in South Caucasus.