Dr Jo Vearey of ACMS will be presenting a seminar in London on Friday 21 November at 12.45 pm at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on Health migration for South(ern Africa): lessons from Johannesburg. If you will be in London that day and are interested, you are there is more information in the link below. Abstract: South Africa – like the rest of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) - is associated with a high prevalence of communicable diseases, an increasing non-communicable disease burden, and diverse internal and cross-border population movements. Healthy migration is good for development but current prevention, testing and treatment responses within public health systems – particularly for chronic conditions – fail to engage with migration. Understanding of migration is poor within sectors responsible for developing appropriate responses; and, negative, unsupported assumptions relating to the prevalence of cross-border migration, the spread of disease, and the burden on receiving health systems prevail. In South Africa – a country associated with historical and contemporary population movements - health responses fail to address internal and cross-border populations, and non-nationals face challenges in accessing public healthcare. Of particular concern is the lack of nationally and regionally coordinated strategies to ensure treatment continuity for communicable and non-communicable diseases. This presentation will draw on Johannesburg - (one of) the most unequal cities globally – that presents a complex web of interlinked urban health challenges, including an HIV prevalence of 11.1%. A growing population of the ‘urban poor’ includes internal and cross-border migrants, many of whom reside in sub-standard housing in the central city or in peripheral informal settlements where HIV prevalence and incidence are highest, and are reliant on fragile livelihood activities. Through a social determinants of urban health (SDUH) lens, and the development of a conceptual framework based on extensive empirical work, the experiences of diverse migrant groups, their health needs, and local responses are explored. These often hidden, marginalised city-residents experience an urban health penalty, including increased upstream risks of acquiring HIV and vulnerability to the downstream consequences of living with HIV. Pro-poor policy and programme responses are urgently needed to improve their living and working conditions. Coordinated, evidence-informed responses to migration, mobility and health are urgently needed at local (city), national and regional levels. These will have developmental and public health benefits for all.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 10:13:13 +0000
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