Thousands of migrants arrived in Europe via the Balkan route, many with various health conditions. The camp of Preševo, Serbia, close to the Macedonian border, was established by the Serbian government and run by the United Nations High Commissioner. The camp was wstablished for Refugees (UNHCR) late in 2015 as a registration and a transfer camp for refugees traveling through the Balkans on their way from the Near East to Western Europe. Refugees stayed at the camp for several hours or a day. NATAN, an Israeli non-governmental volunteer organization, in collaboration with HUMEDICA, a German organization, established a clinic at the camp, staffed by Israeli and German personnel. The Israeli team consisted of a doctor, nurse, and social worker, at least one of whom spoke Arabic. The language barrier was bridged through the fact that Arabic is commonly spoken in Israel, and more than half of the volunteers were Palestinian-Israelis. As for the Farsi language, we were helped by interpreters from the Department of Languages in the University of Belgrade. This report contains data on 2136 consecutive clients visiting the clinic between December 2015 and February 2016. The report focuses on the three most frequent major countries of origin, Syria (51%), Iraq (18%), and Afghanistan (31%). Analysis of the age distribution revealed that 36% were under 18 years of age, while only 5% were above the age of 60. Male gender was predominant. Infections were the most common diagnosis (61%) followed by pain in various body parts (13%). Antibiotics were prescribed in 47.6% of the infections. Most of the visits were for minor illnesses, with very few cases of chronic diseases such as diabetes (28 visits) or hypertension (17 visits). We provide the demographic correlates of migrants' health conditions and discuss the findings in light of past studies and the context of the present sample of migrants.
Background: Following the earthquake of August 2021 in Haiti, humanitarian agencies provided support to the local population. NATAN, a voluntary based non-governmental organization, had arrived in the field five days after the earthquake and provided medical support based on a mobile clinic in seven villages close to the epicenter of the earthquake. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on data collected from 331 persons of concern, as part of ‘good clinical practice’. They received basic treatment such as antibiotics and minor surgical interventions following a diagnosis. The main variables that were collected in this intervention included demographic data, main diagnoses, and main treatments. We also examined the distance from the earthquake epicenter (DfE) and its effects on the diagnoses and treatments. Results: Several interesting findings were observed. A significant association between the DfE and the diagnoses was found, where within the group closest to the epicenter, the most prevalent diagnosis was internal medicine problems (40.3%). Conclusions: It is possible that since five days had passed since the earthquake, the expected diagnoses of traumatic injuries were reduced, leaving sub-acute problems to be diagnosed and treated. Finally, mental health symptoms and stress levels should be assessed systematically and with validated measures.
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