Reflecting on migration health in 2018

Dear MHADRI network member,

It is the time of the year to reflect back on migration health in 2018.

We have been fortunate to have many highlights in migration health this year.  The adoption of the Global Compact for Migration and the release of the UCL-Lancet commission on Migration and Health have been monumental events.  Additionally, there is the increasing recognition of the importance of migration and health as reflected by the success of the World Congress on Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Health (MERH), the International Conference on Migration Health, the CESSMIR conference on Needs and Care Practices for Migrants and Refugees, the ISTM International Conference on Migration and Health, and the WHO Summer School on Refugee and Migrant Health to name a few.  MHADRI members have made significant contributions to these important events and continue to help shape the area of migration health.

There remain ongoing challenges in our field of research.  In this increasing polarized and politicized world, we have the ongoing challenge to communicate the importance of migration and health and the importance of migration health as a field of inquiry.   Even when we have been successful in our research, there is significant advocacy and work that is required to ensure that migration health research is effectively utilized in policy.

Our MHADRI network has grown by leaps and bounds with our membershipnow numbering almost 200 from across the globe!  We have successfully launched our website mhadri.org, social media platforms, and quarterly newsletters.  We aim to be the place for migration health researchers to go to keep up to date, connect with other researchers, and advance evidence informed migration health policies.

Our member publications are another way to showcase and publicize the important work that you do.  Please continue to send us your publications.  We have also started to post member profiles to put a face to our growing community and to showcase the diversity of paths and work that we do. MHADRI intern Holly McCarthy has undertaken an initial scoping exercisewhich highlights that MHADRI members are hopeful about the role such a network can play in addressing current gaps in migration and health research globally.

Stay tuned for new exciting MHADRI initiatives in the New Year!

We have had the great fortune to meet many of you in person at various meetings and events over the past year.  With our growing network, we recognize the importance of in person meetings to connect and push migration health research forward.  We are looking to you, our network members, to suggest potential regional or international events or conferences that are migration, migration health or health of migrant focussed.  Please help us connect you in person.

Wishing you a happy holiday and a healthy and enriching 2019.

MHADRI Steering Committee

Paul Bukuluki
Rachel Burns
Paul Douglas
Chuck Hui
Dee Knipe
Ursula Trummer
Jo Vearey
Kolitha Wickramage