New online resource launched to help GPs and nurses care for migrant patients

Primary Care practitioners can now access a broad range of information to help them look after patients who have come to live in the UK from abroad, following today’s launch of a free-to-use online resource by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

The Migrant Health Guide is intended to be a “one stop shop” for information to support GPs and nurses in assessing and treating migrant patients, in recognition of the fact that these patients sometimes have health needs which are more complex than those of UK born patients. It will provide health professionals with the information they require quickly and easily and it is hoped that this will, in turn, improve patient care and quality of life.

The guide has been developed by a team of clinical and public health experts, as well as primary care practitioners, in collaboration with the HPA’s travel and migrant health section. It has been endorsed by both the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Nursing.

The Migrant Health Guide can be accessed at www.hpa.org.uk/migranthealthguide

For further information on this press release please contact the Health Protection Agency’s national press office at Colindale on:
020 8327 7751/6690/7097, or email cfipressoffice@hpa.org.uk

Drummers and dancers greet Charles

Article first published 08 February 2011 (Press Association)

The Prince of Wales has been greeted by vibrant African dancing as the guest of honour at a royal gala dinner to raise funds for people in Zimbabwe.

Charles smiled warmly as he was greeted by the Zambezi Express drummers and dancers on arrival at Claridge’s in central London for the event organised by The Aid to Zimbabwe Trust.

High profile guests included the Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Thokozani Khupe, singer Annie Lennox and Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.

The charity was set up in 2007 by Ian and Elsie Oliver to help prevent and relieve poverty, advance education and healthcare and assist the disadvantaged in Zimbabwe.

Guy Oliver, chairman of the event, said: “My mother and father went to Zimbabwe 20 years ago and fell in love with the country. They started helping with small projects and it grew. This is the first big event to raise money for capital projects.”

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Access to Primary Health Care for migrants

Ensuring access to healthcare for vulnerable migrants

24 November 2010

A conference on health inequalities in the UK, with a focus on access to healthcare for undocumented migrants and asylum seekers.

* Wednesday 24 November 2010, 1.30-6.30pm

* Red Cross, Bradbury House, 7 Lowe Street, Camp Hill, Birmingham B12 0ER

This event is organised by Doctors of the World (http://www.doctorsoftheworld.org.uk/default.asp) and is being held in conjunction with the HUMA (Health for Undocumented Migrants and Asylum Seekers) network. For more information and a registration form contact Jenny: huma@doctorsoftheworld.org.uk (mailto: huma@doctorsoftheworld.org.uk)

UN backs initiative to reduce child and maternal deaths

In an effort to curb child and maternal mortality rates in Zimbabwe, the United Nations and the World Bank are supporting a $700 million Government initiative to increase spending on the provision of health services in the country over the next three years.

The aim of the health investment plan, backed by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, is to cut child mortality rates by 38 per cent and reduce maternal mortality rates by 17 per cent, according to Marixie Mercado, UNICEF’s spokesperson in Geneva.

The initiative was prompted by the recognition that child and maternal health in Zimbabwe have worsened over the past decade, as the country’s health care system deteriorated, Ms. Mercado said.

An estimated 100 Zimbabwean children die each day from mainly preventable causes and about 35 per cent of children are stunted. Health care workers and medical supplies are insufficient or unaffordable where available, in a country where more than 80 per cent of working age population is unemployed.

The plan is intended to raise investments in health from the current $9 per person to the $44 per person recommended by WHO.

PYCA Launches Appeal to help Pakistani Flood Victims

Pakistan Youth and Community Association (PYCA) is launching an appeal to help the millions of people hit by Pakistan’s devastating floods.

The country’s worst ever flooding has affected almost 14 million people. The disaster has resulted in a mass movement of people leaving 500,000 homeless
and in desperate need of food, clean water, health care and shelter. The official figure of people killed in floods is 1600.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the disaster had eclipsed the scale of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and January’s earthquake in Haiti put together.

“Pakistan is suffering the Worst Natural Disaster in its living memory; millions of people need our support to survive. PYCA has launched this campaign to help people who are in need of direct humanitarian assistance. I appeal for people and charities to act quickly and donate generously to help those affected at this difficult time, 100% of proceeds will go to the victims,” Mustafa Malik, Chief Executive of the Pakistan Youth and Community Association said.

PYCA is receiving the donations at their base at Pakistan Centre, 58 Earl Howe Street, Leicester LE2 0DF. Donations can be deposited directly in the following bank account,

Bank: Barclays Account Name: PYCA Relief Fund
Account No. 90179132 Bank Sort Code: 20-49-11

For further details, please contact Pakistan Centre on 0116 254 8012 or send an e-mail to contact@pyca.org.uk.

Race Equality Foundation publishes migrant health briefing

Please find attached below “Health and access to health care of migrants in the UK”, published by the Race Equality Foundation. It is also available online at http://www.better-health.org.uk/files/health/health-brief19.pdf

This briefing says that the changing size, diversity and needs of the UK migrant population have yet to be sufficiently addressed in academic research and mainstream health policy and practice. It argues that it is important to move beyond a framework of ethnic differences and inequalities in health, and to consider a range of factors that may explain the experiences and needs of migrants. It also suggests ways in which research, policy and practice might address barriers to health, well-being and health care in meeting the needs of migrants.

Health and access to health care for migrants

NHS White Paper published

The NHS White Paper “Equity and Excellence : Liberating the NHS” was published on 12th July 2010. It can be accessed online at:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_117353

It sets out the Government’s long term vision for the future of the NHS. The vision builds on the core values and principles of the NHS, a comprehensive service, available to all, free at the point of use, based on need, not the ability to pay.

Under the new plans, patients will be able to choose which GP practice they register with, regardless of where they live.  Other changes include groups of GPs being given freedom and responsibility for commissioning care for their local communities.  Services will be more joined up, supported by a new role for Local Authorities to support integration across health and social care.  Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts will be phased out.

Arrangements for people whose Limited Leave to Remain expires in August and who wish to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain

Please find attached below a letter from UKBA regarding Indefinite Leave to Remain arrangements for refugees and those granted Humanitarian Protection whose 5 years Limited Leave to Remain expires from August 2010.  People falling into this category are eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain on the grounds that they have a continuing need of protection.    A briefing pack is also attached which contains the following items:

Copy of UKBA website pages

Flyer

Customer Journey Presentation

SET (Protection route) Application form

First contact letter

Frequently asked questions

Consultations on charging asylum seekers Healthcare fees published

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Children who never existed

Workers living on a farm settlement about 35km from Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, bury their dead children secretly because parents cannot afford to get them to a clinic or hospital in time.

“The farmer who is running this farm is not paying us our wages and, as a result, there is no way in which we can raise the money to go to clinics or hospitals,” Gerald Campion, 50, a farm worker, told IRIN.

The settlement has two self-appointed “midwives”, who sometimes err in helping pregnant women, resulting in deaths. “People on this farm don’t know how to use contraceptives, and there are so many pregnancies that the women take care of,” Campion said.

Theresa Maphosa, 14, of Hopley Farm, a makeshift settlement 10km outside Harare, has been left to tend her sick six-month-old brother after their mother died of bleeding while giving birth. Her father is unemployed and cannot afford to take the infant to hospital, and their neighbour, Nesia Simukayi, is afraid that the infant will die soon.

The plight of the farm workers illustrates the grim scenario portrayed in a new survey by the government and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), indicating that access to vital social services for women and children is worsening.

A hundred children younger than five years die every day, mostly of preventable diseases like pneumonia, HIV/AIDS and diarrhoea, said UNICEF.

The Multiple Indicator and Monitoring Survey (MIMS) noted a 20 percent increase in the number of deaths of children aged under five years since 1999, particularly those in rural areas and vulnerable communities with low income.

The survey in May 2009 found that one in every two pregnant women in rural areas was delivering at home, 39 percent across the country did not have access to requisite medical facilities, “while 40 percent were not attended to at birth by a skilled attendant, posing huge dangers for both mothers and newborns”.

The poorest were also finding it more difficult to access health services, which had severely deteriorated during Zimbabwe’s 10-year economic crisis, said Tsitsi Singizi, UNICEF Zimbabwe’s communications officer.

Even though the MMIS report painted a gloomy picture, “As UNICEF, we hope that the report will be used to identify areas of need and mobilize the necessary resources,” Singizi told IRIN.

“We are concerned that the trend whereby standards of living continue to fall is bad news regarding the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals but with the right attitude, we can achieve them.”

Farms were hard hit by droughts and the fast-track land-reform programme, launched in 2000, and have been unable to produce enough food to feed the country.

The US-based Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) reported in September that Zimbabwe faced a cereal shortage of between 180,000 metric tons and 370,000 metric tons, making it difficult for vulnerable communities to access adequate nutrition.

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