{"id":9395,"date":"2022-12-20T11:51:51","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T11:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cov19chronicles.com\/?p=9395"},"modified":"2023-04-26T16:09:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T15:09:53","slug":"international-migrants-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19chronicles.com\/international-migrants-day\/","title":{"rendered":"International Migrants Day: Honouring Our Migrant Health Care Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This report summarises the findings of a UKRI-funded series of studies by Professor Nicola Yeates (Social Policy) at The Open University in collaboration with Public Services International in 2022 has shown that during the pandemic, migrant health workers were regularly and disproportionately exposed to occupational health hazards and were at a greater risk of contracting COVID-19 and experiencing severe harm and death. Policy responses during the pandemic have not addressed these additional risks, nor have they addressed health workforce shortages, thereby putting health care workers and the health of the population in harm\u2019s way.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Nicola Yeates and Genevieve Gencianos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

December 18th 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
A nurse administers COVID-19 vaccine to a migrant in Maesot, a Thai town close to the Myanmar border, in November 2021. Photo: WHO\/Anat Duangjan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

On December 18th<\/sup>, International Migrants Day, we pay tribute to all the migrant health care workers across the world. They are the workers who courageously battled \u2013 and continue to battle – the COVID-19 pandemic at the frontlines, staffing our hospitals, delivering critical care, carrying out vaccination drives, and caring for our elderly family members. The majority of them women, many migrant workers leave their own families behind in order to deliver vital care to others abroad. They provide invaluable services to our health systems, yet they are invisible in terms of rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Migrant health workers are disproportionately exposed to occupational health hazards and are at a greater risk of contracting COVID-19<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A UKRI-funded series of studies<\/a> by Professor Nicola Yeates (Social Policy) at The Open University in collaboration with Public Services International in 2022 has shown that during the pandemic, migrant health workers were regularly and disproportionately exposed to occupational health hazards and were at a greater risk of contracting COVID-19 and experiencing severe harm and death. Policy responses during the pandemic have not addressed these additional risks, nor have they addressed health workforce shortages, thereby putting health care workers and the health of the population in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the risks and unequal impacts of COVID-19 on migrant health workers, our research found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n