Migrant and Ethnic Minority Health

The aim of this section is to increase and spread knowledge on ethnic differences in health and health care, on explanations for these differences, on interventions that aim to tackle these differences. Furthermore, the section aims at setting methodological standards for European countries to identify ethnic groups to promote exchange of information and provide a basis for comparative studies.  Next to these academic aims, the section aims at increasing political attention at national and European levels for consequences of migration for health and health care.

This section’s priorities are to:

• Build a network of health professionals on migration and health from a public health perspective.
  Increase the knowledge on differences in health problems, use and quality of health care services and on interventions to tackle these differences.
  Discuss conceptual and methodological issues regarding ethnic differences in health and health care
  Develop strategies to influence national and European policy makers and politicians to increase attention for ethnic health and health care differences.
  Initiate and further use of standard identification methods and data collection procedures.

Every two years, the section organises an international conference on migrant and ethnic minority health. The section organises at least one workshop on conceptual and/or methodological issues at the annual European Public Health (EPH) Conference. Next to these conference activities, the section encourages its members to actively engage in national and international workshops and to publish articles in the European Journal of Public Health.

This section was established in December 2003 in Rome.

Due to the world-wide migration, health and health care is more and more confronted with consequences of migration like ethnic differences. Especially in larger denser urban areas medicine and health care services should consider the ethnic variation in their policies.

In immigrant receiving European countries, due to the migration, incidence and prevalence of health problems vary and health care services have to deal with the ethnic diverse health care consumers. In immigrant donating European countries, especially Eastern European countries, population health profiles alter caused by the outflow of young healthy males. Information on health and health care consequences of migration is fragmented in Europe and difficult to aggregate due to conceptual and methodological difficulties. Not the least caused by the diversity of ethnic groups that settle in different countries. Conceptual issues deal with a.o. defining and identifying ethnic groups and methodological issues like data collection methods.

Because world-wide migration will continue in the next decades, big challenges for public health professionals arise. Lack of scientific research implies that decisions in public health policy are based on insufficient information. Explanations for ethnic health differences are still underdeveloped and lack empirical support. The fuzzy relation with socio-economic status makes explanations more problematic. Knowledge about feasibility and effectiveness of interventions to tackle these unwanted differences is scarce and not communicated. Best practices need to be identified and spread, especially between countries.