Access to health-care policies for refugees and asylum-seekers

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-45
Author(s):  
Salma El-Gamal ◽  
Johanna Hanefeld
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Poor General Health ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

Purpose The influx of refugees and asylum-seekers over the past decade into the European Union creates challenges to the health systems of receiving countries in the preparedness and requisite adjustments to policy addressing the new needs of the migrant population. This study aims to examine and compare policies for access to health care and the related health outcomes for refugees and asylum-seekers settling both in the UK and Germany as host countries. Design/methodology/approach The paper conducted a scoping review of academic databases and grey literature for studies within the period 2010-2017, seeking to identify evidence from current policies and service provision for refugees and asylum-seekers in Germany and the UK, distilling the best practice and clarifying gaps in knowledge, to determine implications for policy. Findings Analysis reveals that legal entitlements for refugees and asylum-seekers allow access to primary and secondary health care free of charge in the UK versus a more restrictive policy of access limited to acute and emergency care during the first 15 months of resettlements in Germany. In both countries, many factors hinder the access of this group to normal health care from legal status, procedural hurdles and lingual and cultural barriers. Refugees and asylum-seeker populations were reported with poor general health condition, lower rates of utilization of health services and noticeable reliance on non-governmental organizations. Originality/value This paper helps to fulfill the need for an extensive research required to help decision makers in host countries to adjust health systems towards reducing health disparities and inequalities among refugees and asylum-seekers.

scholarly journals Asylum seekers and the right to access health care

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-390
Author(s):  
Dallal Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Access To Treatment ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right

In recent years, the issue of access to health care by asylum seekers has raised serious questions for government, the courts and the medical profession. Who has the right to medical treatment in the United Kingdom is a political, humanitarian and human rights matter. For the government – often facing public hostility towards asylum seekers and migrants, fearful of health tourism or “pull factors” to the UK, and confronting burgeoning financial constraints – access to treatment is often regarded as a concession rather than a right. For the courts, any decision to grant treatment to non-nationals, particularly those with no right to remain, is seen as having political implications far beyond the needs of the individual. The medical profession, by contrast, prefers in the main to focus on the patient, without regard for immigration status, and is uncomfortable with a dual role. Where the balance should lie is currently being assessed by government as it considers responses to a consultation paper on Review of Access to the NHS by Foreign Nationals. At this timely point, this article offers a multidisciplinary approach to the question of access to health care by asylum seekers, by examining not only the legal position but also government policy, its impact on the individual, and, significantly, the ethical and philosophical arguments pro or contra treatment. It is contended that only through this comprehensive analysis can an appropriate legislative approach be adopted at a time when this critical social right is gaining ascendance.

scholarly journals Oral health problems facing refugees in Europe: a scoping review

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eiad Zinah ◽  
Heba M. Al-Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
Oral Health Care ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

Abstract Introduction Europe has been experiencing a flow of refugees and asylum seekers driven by conflicts or poverty. Their oral health is often neglected despite its clear impact on quality of life. Objective To explore the status of oral health among refugees and asylum seekers groups by examining the available literature and to determine which evidence exists regarding the problems they face in terms of oral health. Methods The current paper followed PRISMA guidelines. A scoping review methodology was followed to retrieve 2911 records from five databases and grey literature. Twelve articles met the following inclusion criteria: experimental research concentrated on the oral and dental health of refugees and/or asylum seekers between 1995 and 2020 in English. Analysis was both descriptive and thematic, whilst a critical appraisal was applied using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP). Results Seven studies (58,3%) were quantitative, while five studies (41,6%) were qualitative. In general, the quality of most of the studies (83.3%) was good. Limited access to oral health care services was shown with a higher prevalence of oral diseases compared to the native populations of the host countries. Approaches to improve oral health have been implemented in some studies and have shown positive outcomes. Conclusions Oral health care strategies should consider the oral health problems facing refugees in Europe, and oral health promotion campaigns are essential to give adequate guidance on how to access oral health care in the host countries.

scholarly journals Migration and access to health care in English medical law: a rhetorical critique

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Harrington
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Medical Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Persuasive Strategies ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk

This paper develops a rhetorical critique of recent cases on migration and access to health care in Britain. It argues that the national territory, once a taken-for-granted starting point for reasoning in medical law, has lost its common-sense status as a result of neoliberal globalisation. This is evident in recent decisions involving on the one hand HIV-positive asylum seekers coming to the UK and on the other hand British ‘health tourists’ seeking funding for treatment elsewhere in the European Union. Courts are aware that many of these cases are likely to call forth the sympathy of audiences for the individual concerned, further undermining their privileging of the national scale. In curbing this ‘politics of pity’ they adopt a range of persuasive strategies.

Asylum seekers' access to health care in Israel

The Lancet ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 386 (9988) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Nora Gottlieb ◽  
Habtom Ghebrezghiabher ◽  
Tsega Gebreyesus
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Access To Health

Refugee health in Europe: mapping review of research literature (2015–2019)

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-369
Author(s):  
Irina Ibragimova ◽  
Martina Žužak
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Refugee Health ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mapping Review ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to map research literature on all aspects of refugee health in Europe (2015–2019): by research domain, study design, targeted population, type of setting, host country, journal title. This will help to identify recent research trends in the field, provide policymakers with useful source of information and help researches to target important gaps in evidence.Design/methodology/approachWHO (with other international agencies) has developed strategic documents and produced technical guidance, which formulate priority issues of refugee health in Europe. These documents state the need for relevant information and research data to support effective decision-making at all levels of health care systems. Although recent bibliometric analysis of global migration health research (2000–2016) concluded that 25.4% of retrieved documents were about refugees and asylum seekers, still there remain critical gaps in the knowledge base on a wide range of determinants of health service delivery and access for refugees and asylum seekers in the WHO European Region. Mapping review design was chosen as it maps and categorizes existing literature from which to commission further reviews and/or primary research by identifying gaps in research literature. Search strategy was developed and searches were executed in six databases: PubMed Medline; Scopus; ProQuest (Thesis and Dissertations); Cochrane Library; BASE; eLibrary (Russian journal articles).FindingsMapping review revealed that although research in some domains of refugee health was growing (mental health, infectious diseases, access to health care), there are still gaps in evidence in many important aspects: maternal and reproductive health, NCD, nutrition and economic evaluations. Most of 1,291 retrieved studies used observational or quasi-experimental design (75%), while very few were experimental studies (1.8%). Secondary research constituted a significant portion of retrieved publications: systematic reviews and meta-analysis – 8%, other reviews with systematic approach – 16%.Originality/valueDetailed mapping of research by a combination of setting, population and research domains and comparison of results with those from previous decades and with planned trials and systematic reviews.

Equity of access to health care. Evidence from NHS Direct in the UK

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 262-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Knowles ◽  
James Munro ◽  
Alicia O'Cathain ◽  
Jon Nicholl
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Equity Of Access ◽  
Nhs Direct
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