Immunization Offer Targeting Migrants: Policies and Practices in Italy

Abstract

The unprecedented flow of migrants over the last three years places Italy in front of new issues regarding medical care from the rescue phase up to the integration into the national health services, including preventive actions. We used online questionnaires to investigate the Italian national and regional policies for immunization offer targeting asylum seekers, refugees, irregular migrants and unaccompanied minors. Another questionnaire was used to assess how these policies are translated into practice in migrant reception centres and community health services. Questionnaires were filled out at the national level, in 14 out of 21 Regions/Autonomous Provinces, and in 36 community health services and 28 migrant reception centres. Almost all responders stated that all vaccinations included in the National Immunization Plan are offered to migrant children and adolescents. The situation concerning adults is fragmented, with most of the Regions and local centres offering more vaccines than the national offer—which include polio, tetanus and measles–mumps-rubella. Data on immunized immigrants is archived at the regional/local level with different methods and not available at the national level. Further efforts to ensure consistency in vaccine provision and adequate mechanisms of exchanging data are needed to guarantee a complete vaccination offer and avoid unnecessary health actions, including unnecessary re-vaccination.

Emergency Care for Women Irregular Migrants Who Arrive in Spain by Small Boat: A Qualitative Study

“…Consistent with our results, emergency care for WIMs must incorporate gynaecological assessment [14,22,25], mental healthcare provision [21], immunisation [12], information about the WIMs’ rights [41] and risk reports of victims of sexual violence and human trafficking [4]. There is a lack of studies that focus on emergency care for WIMs [46,47].…”

“…Additionally, greater involvement on the part of receiving countries in expanding resources and comprehensive health interventions is needed [12,51]. National and European policies should be oriented towards the implementation of programmes to protect women and children irregular migrants [38].…”

“…The Maritime Rescue Team intercept the small boats offshore and alert the Red Cross Emergency Response Team (doctor, nurses, volunteers, cultural mediators [11]. Migrants may experience a number of health issues caused by the living conditions faced during the migratory journey, and overcrowding could also favour the occurrence of outbreaks [12]. Emergency care provided to IMs includes triage, first aid, food and water provision [2], screening for transmissible diseases diagnosis, treatment, and the identification of survivors and the deceased [13,14,15].…”

Interventions to Improve Vaccination Uptake and Cost Effectiveness of Vaccination Strategies in Newly Arrived Migrants in the EU/EEA: A Systematic Review

“…This will require a standardisation of migrant definitions and parameters. Further research on vaccination uptake, immunisation coverage, and cost-effectiveness of different strategies in adults versus children is required to inform potential different migrant guidelines [ 60 ]. The optimal method to document immunisations and share immunisation data across jurisdictions in mobile populations to ensure that the migrant receives the correct immunisations at the appropriate time is an understudied area [ 61 ].…”

Salud de migrantes internacionales en situación irregular: una revisión narrativa de iniciativas

“…Otra limitación fue la ausencia de búsqueda de fuentes de literatura gris relevantes en materia de documentación de diseño, formulación e implementación de políticas públicas e iniciativas gubernamentales y no gubernamentales, como leyes, reportes técnicos y documentos institucionales, entre otros. Finalmente, otra limitación corresponde al período de tiempo en que se realizó la búsqueda, lo que deja fuera a estudios publicados en los últimos dos años, que entregan información que permitiría complementar el análisis realizado, como iniciativas implementadas en Francia (43,44) , Italia (43,45) , Tailandia (46,47) y Estados Unidos (46) , así como también aportan información sobre iniciativas no analizadas en esta revisión, existentes en Noruega (46) , Israel (48) y Alemania (49) .…”