Migrant health: the economic argument

The right to health care is acknowledged in many international declarations—however, often with unclear statements regarding the population groups that should actually be provided with this right and the extent of services that should be included. National legislations of the European countries on the provision of health care are generally restricting entitlements to certain population groups. As a consequence, many migrants enjoy entitlements which are not comparable to those of the citizens of the country—depending of their formal status in the country.¹ Besides, the full enjoyment of health care requires not only formal entitlements, but also the existence of inclusive health services that are able to ensure quality of care when access has actually been obtained. An accumulating body of evidence in the field of health and migration concludes that the specific health needs of migrants and ethnic minorities are often poorly understood, communication between many health care providers and migrant patients remains poor and health systems are not fully equipped to respond adequately. Despite these facts, only a few countries have adopted national policies on migrant and ethnic minority health to meet the challenges. It is also pointed out that the research fields concerned with equity in health, human rights and health and migration are insufficiently connected to each other and therefore miss synergies to support policy change.

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