Migration Health

Migrants and mobile populations face many obstacles in accessing essential health care services due to several factors, including migration status, language barriers, a lack of migrant-inclusive health policies and inaccessibility of services. Such disparities impact the well-being of migrants and host communities and undermine the realization of global health goals.

Therefore, to achieve goal of “healthy migrants in healthy communities” IOM provides comprehensive, preventive and curative health service for migrants and mobile populations in a dignified manner, ensuring these services are beneficial, accessible and equitable. IOM bridges the needs of both migrants and communities by contributing towards physical, mental and social well-being.

In the context of health emergencies and early recovery in Türkiye, IOM offers emergency health support aimed at connecting health security and mobility, increasing communities’ health resilience and strengthening migration health governance. To minimize the potential public health threat of human mobility, which could have a negative impact on the migrants’ and communities’ health, IOM supports the Ministry of Health in the provision of life saving primary healthcare services concurrently with health system strengthening. This includes medical consultations to combat persistent disease, sexual and reproductive health care, promotion of immunization services, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), promotion of nutrition through maternal, infant and young child feeding, counselling and health promotion.

Furthermore, mental health is a critical component of migrants’ and communities’ well-being. IOM’s Psychosocial Mobile Teams (PMTs) work in strategic locations, focusing on remote and rural areas where large migrant and refugee communities reside who have difficulties in accessing services. MHPSS activities for women, men, girls, and boys are tailored to the needs of migrants, refugees and host community members and incorporate their ideas through strong community engagement and participatory methodologies. Activities include focused and non-focused individual and group sessions, and sociocultural and relational activities such as cooking activities, excursions to cultural sites, sports, Turkish language courses and reading and drawing lessons for children – all conducted in efforts to promote longer-term community cohesion.

IOM also carries out pre-migration health activities (PMHAs) for migrants and refugees resettling to third countries in order to minimize the potential public health threat of human mobility. PMHAs also prevent negative health events during travel or after the arrival of the beneficiaries through assessing a migrant’s fitness to travel, by assisting stabilization treatment and pre-departure care where needed or making special travel arrangements and through facilitating continuity of care upon arrival. Furthermore, IOM immunizes refugees against vaccine-preventable diseases, provides presumptive treatment, and supports positive health-seeking behaviors through health education and counseling that aim to empower beneficiaries to improve their health. Depending on the type of migrant country-specific guidelines, the following services are provided by IOM Türkiye to its prospective beneficiaries:

• Review of medical and immunization history

• Detailed physical examination and mental health evaluation

• Radiological or laboratory investigations in collaboration with other stakeholders

• Pre- and post-test counseling

• Referral for consultation with a specialist

• Pre-embarkation/fitness-to-travel checks (PECs)

• Pre-departure medical procedures (PDMPs)

• Administration of vaccines

• Referral for directly observed treatment (DOT) for tuberculosis

• Sharing information or documentation to appropriate immigration or public health authorities while maintaining confidentiality

• Providing medical escorts and arrangements for travel

• Post=arrival medical followups, including hospital admissions, treatment and medical interventions

• Recommendations for special schooling and job arrangements