PUBLI : Eleonora Genovese, Kathleen R. Page, Johann Cailhol, Yves Jackson, « Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic response to strengthen undocumented migrant-sensitive health systems : case studies from four countries », The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 2023

Summary :
Undo­cu­mented migrants are a vulne­rable popu­la­tion group in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic due to increased risk of infec­tion, severe morbi­dity, and morta­lity. In this Personal View, we analyze the COVID-19 pandemic responses, parti­cu­larly vacci­na­tion campaigns, vis à vis undo­cu­mented migrants, and discuss lessons learned. Our empi­rical obser­va­tions as clini­cians and public health prac­ti­tio­ners in Italy, Swit­zer­land, France, and the United States are supple­mented by a lite­ra­ture review, and presented through country case studies focu­sing on Gover­nance, Service Deli­very, and Infor­ma­tion. We propose recom­men­da­tions to capi­ta­lize on the COVID-19 pandemic response as an entry point to streng­then migrant-sensi­tive provi­sions into health system frame­works, by : provi­ding specific guidance in health poli­cies and plans ; deve­lo­ping tailored imple­men­ta­tion approaches with outreach and mobile services, with trans­lated and socio-cultu­rally adapted infor­ma­tion, and enga­ge­ment of migrant commu­ni­ties and third sector actors ; and deve­lo­ping syste­matic moni­to­ring & evalua­tion systems with disag­gre­gated migrant data from National Health Service and third sector providers.

Keywords : COVID-19 ; Undo­cu­mented migrants ; Policy