December issue - Deadline for submission: 30-07-2016
Migration and health
Public Health Panorama invites papers for its first thematic issue on the topic of migration and health in the European Region. With the arrival of over 1 million refugees and migrants in Europe in 2015, our Region is facing an unprecedented situation, which calls for an urgent response to their health needs, by actions between and within countries and among sectors.
The papers for the December 2016 issue of Public Health Panorama should focus on migration and health, They may represent scientific research findings on the health status of refugees and migrants in the European Region and their access to community health and care services, case studies of best practices and experience in integrating the health needs of refugees and migrants into national cross-sectoral policies, strategies and plans.
Health status, access to health care and public heath interventions for refugees and migrants in the European Region
Advancing the research agenda on the health of refugees and migrants is essential for making evidence-informed policy recommendations. One of the objectives of this Panorama issue is to offer a platform for new research in this area. Therefore, papers are invited that provide new evidence on the health status and access to health care of refugees and migrants in the European Region and on public health strengthening to meet that need.
Integrating the health needs of refugees and migrants into national cross-sectoral policies, strategies and plans
While migration is a perennial global phenomenon, the current migration crisis requires urgent action to integrate the health needs of refugees and migrants adequately into national policies, strategies and plans, so that they protect and promote the health of these vulnerable populations as well as their host communities. This is "easier said than done". This Panorama issue will welcome country experiences and best practices in this field, as sharing of such information is fundamental to inter-country cooperation in order to provide appropriate responses to common challenges. Priority will be given to papers that describe whole-of-government, whole-of-society and health-in-all-policies approaches, i.e. those that address the links among social and economic policies and sectors to ensure better health outcomes and less health inequity, in the spirit of the Health 2020 vision.
After the discussions on migration and health at the margins of the meeting of the Regional Committee for Europe in September 2015, European ministers of health decided to meet again to discuss a common understanding and agreed action for meeting the health needs of migrants and refugees. The High-level Meeting on Refugee and Migrant Health held in Rome in November 2015 was attended by high-level representatives of 50 countries in the European, Eastern Mediterranean and African regions and from several other United Nations agencies and international organizations.
The result of the discussions are published in the outcome document Stepping up action on refugee and migrant health. European Member States agreed to develop a common framework for collaborative action on refugee and migrant health, based on solidarity and mutual assistance and in the spirit of the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda, whereby "no one should be left behind". Migration and health will be one of the main items for discussion at the meeting of the Regional Committee for Europe in September 2016.
Guidelines for submitting papers
We invite papers that describe research and new evidence on the health status and access to health care of refugees and migrants in the European Region. We also welcome papers on good practice in integrating the health needs of refugees and migrants into national cross-sectoral policies, strategies and plans. Priority will be given to those papers based on approaches to ensure equity and those that describe successful practices, innovative solutions and lesson learnt.
We welcome papers that document experience from low-income countries and those with economies in transition. Manuscripts may be submitted in either English or Russian. The deadline for submissions is 30 July 2016.Manuscripts should respect the guidelines for contributors and mention this call for papers in a covering letter. All submissions will undergo the peer-review process of Public Health Panorama. For further queries, please seehttp://bit.ly/1PNcJOS or contact panorama@euro.who.int.
