We have an entire category here at RRWon refugee and immigrant health (286 previous posts!) and I’ve maintained for years that health problems coming into the US with refugees and the cost of treating the myriad diseases and chronic conditions could ultimately be more significant to your community than a terrorist attack might be. Those refugees with latent TB are admitted to the US and some who are being treated for active TB may also gain entry. Photo: http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/guidelines/refugee-guidelines.html
That said, here is an informative article (hat tip: Joanne) from The Journal of Family Practice a few years ago which goes over the issues facing the medical community as we ‘welcome’ over 100,000 refugees and asylum seekers to America each year.
Pay special attention to the sections on Tuberculosis and HIV (there is no longer a bar to admission for HIV/AIDS and refugees are no longer even tested for it in advance of admission). Other big medical issues include intestinal parasites and hepatitis. And, of course mental health.
In 2012 we posted a film describing how refugees with active TB were being prepared for entry into the US, here.
Here is how the Journal of Family Practice article opens:
Refugees arrive in the United States with complex medical issues, including illnesses rarely seen here, mental health concerns, and chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.
I encourage all of you working in ‘pockets of resistance’ to be sure to do your homework on health issues, including mental health issues. According to Anastasia Brown of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, 75% of Iraqis entering the US have mental illness. See Journal of Migration and Human Security report, here. The Centers for Disease Control also has important information on its website, here.
And, in the past we have noted that both Texas and Minnesota health departments have lots of good information about refugee health on their websites, and I expect some other states do as well. If your state health department does not report on refugee medical problems that is something you should be advocating for where you live.
Again, see our ‘Health issues’ category by clicking here.
This latest disease is not one that immediately comes to mind like TB and HIV/AIDS that we usually hear about. BTW, American readers should know that even our “screened” refugees are permitted entry into the US with TB and HIV. http://www.slideshare.net/saeidzaxo/diphtheria-ppt
From Outbreak News Today (never heard of it, but maybe it is time to follow this news site!). Story titled: ‘Europe reporting imported cutaneous diphtheria in refugees’
People are fleeing certain African and Middle Eastern countries in large numbers and many are headed to the countries of Europe. In fact, one report notes that about 5,000 people flee Eritrea each month, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN refugee agency.
One of the things that can come from refugees and asylum seekers are infectious diseases contracted in their home country.
Europe is currently reporting cases of cutaneous diphtheria in asylum seekers to several countries to include Denmark, Sweden and Germany. To date, nine cases have been reported by the three nations.
The disease is contagious and can be deadly. More problems and expense for Europe’s socialized medical system. Go here for our ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive. And, for new readers, you should know that we have a ‘health issues’ category, here (with 278 previous posts on health problems of refugees).
It is, if you allow your town or city to become the next ‘welcoming’ community for thousands of third world refugees in desperate need of healthcare.
Buffalo, NY (Erie County) is one of the federal government’s “preferred communities” for refugee resettlement and is, according to this meeting announcement, the largest resettlement site in New York State. NY is among the top five resettlement states in the US.
Go here for our extensive archive on problems with refugees in Buffalo. See especially this 2012 post where we learned that the Christian and Jewish population is declining and the Muslim population increasing in and around Buffalo (thanks to Christian and Jewish resettlement contractors listed below!).
When they say “culturally-engaged” healthcare, do they mean that refugees have health issues that are related to the cultural practices they bring to America, like ‘female genital mutilation?’ I see NY is one of the top states for at risk girls! https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2015/03/16/concerned-about-female-genital-mutilation-in-the-american-refugee-population/
Think long and hard about whether your town or city wants to take on the massive (and expensive!) physical and mental health care of thousands of refugees!
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions (SPHHP) will hold the second annual Western New York Refugee Health Summit on Thursday, April 9 …
[….]
Called “Community conversations to build pathways toward culturally engaged health care in Buffalo,” the health summit is being held as part of the SPHHP’s celebration of National Public Health Week.
[….]
Erie County resettles the highest number of refugees in New York State; approximately one third of the state’s 3,700 refugees resettled in Buffalo in 2013. Many arrive in the U.S. driven from their home countries by social and political upheaval, war, and economic or agricultural distress. Even with committed organizations assisting refugees, many barriers exist to obtaining culturally-engaged health care.
The summit will provide a forum where health care providers and refugees can meet and discuss ways to overcome the five main barriers to care that refugees face: coordinating stakeholders, mentoring of providers, mobilizing community leaders, dealing with language barriers and addressing gaps in providing care. [By the way, “stakeholders” does not apply to you, the taxpayers footing the bill for all of this healthcare and most likely this summit too!—ed]
Participants also will review an online platform that is being developed to better share and coordinate Western New York health resources for refugees.
[….]
Participating community agency partners include the Burmese Community Support Center, Community Health Center of Buffalo, Neighborhood Health Center, H.E.A.L. International, Jericho Road Community Health Center, International Institute of Buffalo, Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc., Catholic Charities of Buffalo, Jewish Family Services of Buffalo and Erie County, and the UB Schools of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Nursing, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Public Health and Health Professions, and Social Work.
Wow! Check it out! No wonder Buffalo is so overloaded with needy refugees, five of the nine major contractors have offices there!
BTW, when I first posted this handy list of resettlement subcontractors in December, the State Department said they had 180 cities, but I saw yesterday that they are saying 190 cities (so they gained ten more in the last few months!).
CWS (Church World Service)
NY-CWS-07: Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc
Address:
Tri-Main Center, 2495 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14214-2152
Phone:
716-882-4963
DFMS (Episcopal Migration Ministries)
NY-DFMS-07: Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc
Address:
2459 Main Street, Suite 317
Buffalo, NY 14214
Phone:
716-882-4963
HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society)
NY-HIAS-06: Jewish Family Service Of Buffalo And Erie County
Address:
70 Barker Street
Buffalo, NY 14209
Phone:
716-883-1914
USCCB (US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
NY-USCCB-02: Refugee Assistance Program Catholic Charities
Address:
20 Herkimer Street
Buffalo, NY 14213
Phone:
716-842-0270
USCRI (US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants)
NY-USCRI-02: International Institute Of Buffalo, Inc.
Address:
864 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14209
Phone:
716-883-190
LOL! I bet they are all competing with each other to bring in the paying refugee ‘clients.’
We have an extensive ‘health issues’ category you might like to visit, here.
Nearly 2,200 immigrants and refugees headed for America have tested positive for tuberculosis under a more-sensitive exam that, before bolstering, would have missed the illnesses, U.S. health officials said Monday.
In 2012 alone, overseas physicians using the tougher screening identified 629 additional cases of TB among people bound for U.S. borders, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The article does not say they would be prohibited from coming to America at some point in the future.
See our archive on TB,here. And see our Ten Things your town needs to know if considering “welcoming” refugees. Health issues will be a major concern for your local health department (Who will be responsible for monitoring them to assure they stay on their meds?).
Our ‘health issues’ category is here. See 269 previous posts on mental and physical health issues affecting refugees and immigrants.
More news that unvaccinated refugees are helping spread measles in Germany. No surprise as Germany has virtually opened its doors to refugees from throughout Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. If anyone dares challenge the government on this open door policy, one is immediately labeled a Nazi. Wave bye-bye to Germany?
Refugees headed west from the former Yugoslavia. http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-eu-31154596
There have been 447 cases of measles confirmed in the first seven weeks of 2015, as Berlin comes to grip with the biggest measles outbreak since 2001,reported the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) earlier this month.
The outbreak is being traced back to a community of refugees from Serbia as well as Bosnia and Herzogovina, where routine vaccinations were not carried out during the Yugoslavian civil war.
