Health and Migration in the EU - better health for all in an inclusive society
A major initiative of the Portuguese Presidency in the field of health, has been the conference "Health and Migration in the EU - better health for all in an inclusive society", held in Lisbon on 27 and 28 September.
The conference aimed at mobilizing Member States, national and international organizations, and some NGOs, to discuss proposals for interventions that would promote health, prevent disease, and improve the access to healthcare by migrants. Specifically, the conference’s objectives were:
to assess the 21st century international migration moves and their impact on the EU demography and economy;
to improve knowledge on migrants’ health status and health determinants (accounting for the demographic dynamics of the migratory process and its impact);
the specific political and legal frameworks at both national and international levels; (the socio-economic integration of migrant families);
to identify the best practices about migrants’ access to health services (health promotion, prevention and access to care), encompassing formal and informal care, as well as social and cultural activities aimed at facilitating inclusion;
and to contribute to the definition of health policies and strategies aimed at improving migrants’ integration, which could be implemented at both EU and Member States levels.
The European Public Health Alliance will participate in this meeting. The Secretariat is trying to find funding to bring also some EPHA members working on health and migrants.
The European Commissioner for health and consumer protection Markos Kyprianou , addressed the opening session and chose to highlight the issue of brain drain in the health sector of developing countries. He began his address by underscoring the need to fight xenophobia and ensure that the EU is open and respects human rights when addressing migration issues. He outlined the European health challenges that migration poses in an era of globalisation, including additional and different burdens on the health sector in the EU, as well as the need to ensure access to healthcare for migrants. But he also made particular references to the impact that migration of skilled workers has on the healthcare sector in the countries of origin.
In response to this challenge he promised that the Commission would be coming forward with a new initiative next year that will build upon the Global dimension of the new EU health strategy to be adopted this year. He outlined his thoughts on what is necessary focussing on the priority to ensure that the needs for healthcare workers that the EU has be satisfied internally in the EU rather than seeking to source healthcare workers externally. This will be particularly challenging in an era of demographic change and an aging population. In regards specific policy response to this challenge, he cited the NHS code of conduct as best practice to follow and a policy that should be examined to see its relevance across the EU.
The European Public Health Alliance participated in the meeting, with three representatives able to participate in separate parallel sessions due to funding from the Gulbenkian Foundation. However, despite there being representatives from the MIGHEALTHNET project at the event, civil society representation was rather limited and particularly organisations representing migrants themselves.
Instead the focus for the event was to enable the Member State representatives to discuss the issues that will form the substance of their discussions in the Council. The Portuguese Presidency intends to have the Council adopt conclusions on the issue during its presidency in the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO).
The Conference was closed with a speech from Margaret Chan WHO Director-General who reaffirmed the anti-discriminatory message of Commissioner Kyprianou and who also highlighted the brain drain impact on the health sector migration can have on developing countries.
Forum on Social Services of General Interest
Under the auspices of the European Parliament and with the support of the European Commission, the European Presidency of the European Union decided to organise the first Forum on Social Services of General Interest (SSGI) on 17 September 2007 in Lisbon.
A representative from the EPHA membership was selected to attend this event, thanks to a grant from the Portuguese Presidency to do so.
You can find below the provisional programme.
