EU help sought for health needs of illegal immigrants

The health needs of illegal immigrants cannot be handled only at a national level and must be addressed through an EU Integrated Health Protection Programme, the health ministers of Malta, Greece, Italy and Cyprus said in a joint statement.

They issued the statement, which was accepted and adopted by the Council of Ministers, following an information Health Ministers meeting in Hungary.

They said that publichealth and illegal migration were interconnected

They noted the increase in illegal migration over the past months, a situation expected to be aggravated in the coming months due to the crisis in north Africa, public health.

“We are deeply concerned with the public health implications of this situation, taking into consideration the very different epidemiological profiles and health status of the populations concerned.

“The EU is very sensitive to the respect of the human rights and the right to health protection for all people.

“We are doing our utmost for the health needs of these populations. At the same time the citizens of the EU countries need to be protected from potential public health threats.

“This requires strengthening our capacity to properly monitor and effectively address real public health risks, including those related to communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, STIs, and malaria,” they said.

The ministers said that given the serious financial constraints which also affected funding for health systems, they considered that the health needs of illegal immigrants had to addressed through an EU Integrated Health Protection Programme.

An important element of this programme was the sharing of professional healthcare staff and resources from across the EU to assist, support and sustain the response the four countries were already offering by hosting these populations.

The ministers invited EU states and candidate countries to join forces to respond effectively to these challenges and their serious repercussions on the public health status of EU citizens.

“The European Commission is invited to make every effort and take all necessary steps in assisting member states confronted with considerable inflow of illegal immigrants and together with the ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe provide the necessary technical and scientific advice and expertise.”

They said that the meeting in Rome on April 13 provided a useful starting point to take this collaboration forward.