Inter Press Service: Huge Health Needs for World’s One Billion Migrants
“With an estimated one billion migrants today — or one in every seven people — their health needs are huge. Nevertheless, health systems are struggling to adapt and consequently access to health services among migrant populations varies widely and is often inadequate. This has been the key issue before senior public health officials from over 40 countries, who met on February 23 in Colombo, concluding that addressing the health needs of migrants reduces long-term health and social costs, enhances health security, and contributes to social and economic development…” (2/24).

U.N. News Centre: At global U.N. consultation, health leaders underline need for action on migrant health
“…The ‘Colombo Statement,’ adopted [Thursday] at the second Global Consultation on Migrant Health, aims to address the health challenges of increasingly mobile populations … Highlighting the importance of the issue, Davide Mosca, the director of Migration Health Division at the U.N. International Organization for Migration (IOM), added: ‘This can only be realized through the implementation of well-managed and coordinated migration policies, which include financial risk protection and equal access to quality health services.’ The Colombo Statement also calls for mainstreaming migrant health into key national, regional, and international agendas and promotes international solidarity for equitable migrant health policies, a shared research agenda, and the development of global frameworks to ensure migrant health is protected…” (2/24).