gms | German Medical Science

According to the World Migration Report (2020) and UNHCR (2022), there are 281 million international migrants and 89 million internally displaced people across the world. Migrants, refugees and internally displaced populations (IDPs) are at a higher risk for common mental health problems than the general population. This is often due to combination of pre-migration, migration and post-migration factors. Despite their mental health needs, migrants and refugees are less likely to seek care for mental health problems due to language barriers, cultural stigmatization of mental health conditions, cultural influences on patterns of coping and seeking help, and unfamiliarity with the healthcare system in the host country. Those who seek care may face barriers to receiving quality care such as cultural influences on the presentation of symptoms and the lack of or inappropriate use of interpreters. Immigrants’ mental health should therefore be addressed through both structural (systems) and personal (interpersonal) levels. Unfortunately, most of the literature available on immigrants’ mental health needs, are based on research on immigrants and not research with immigrants that are co-designed with the immigrant populations. This type of research would serve to pinpoint the areas identified by immigrants as having a priority in their mental health. On the other hand, access to mental health care is limited in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where approximately 74% of IDPs reside. The eight countries in the LMICs with the most fatalities from ethnic violence (Somalia, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan) account for over 42% of the global IDPs population. Over 60% of these IDPs are currently living in urban areas without any international protection and the heavy burden of psychiatric diseases are being acknowledged. For example, a recent study by World Health Organization (WHO) shows that about 77% of young people in IDP camps in Somalia have mental disorders. Despite prevalent mental health problems among IDPs in these countries, they have on average 0.75 mental health providers per 100,000 individuals compared to a worldwide median of 9 per 100,000 individuals. In this session, we will discuss access to mental health care of migrants, refugees and IDPs through global health perspective.