The need for protecting and enhancing TB health policies and services for forcibly displaced and migrant populations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
File(s)
Published online version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Disruption of health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to derail progress being made in tuberculosis control efforts. Forcibly displaced people and migrant populations face particular vulnerabilities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which leaves them at further risk of developing TB. They inhabit environments where measures such as "physical distancing" are impossible to realize and where facilities like camps and informal temporary settlements can easily become sites of rapid disease transmission. In this viewpoint we utilize three case studies-from Peru, South Africa, and Syria-to illustrate the lived experience of forced migration and mobile populations, and the impact of COVID-19 on TB among these populations. We discuss the dual pandemics of TB and COVID-19 in the context of migration through a syndemic lens, to systematically address the upstream social, economic, structural and political factors that - in often deleterious dynamics - foster increased vulnerabilities and risk. Addressing TB, COVID-19 and migration from a syndemic perspective, not only draws systematic attention to comorbidity and the relevance of social and structural context, but also helps to find solutions: the true reality of syndemic interactions can only be fully understood by considering a particular population and bio- social context, and ensuring that they receive the comprehensive care that they need. It also provides avenues for strengthening and expanding the existing infrastructure for TB care to tackle both COVID-19 and TB in migrants and refugees in an integrated and synergistic manner.
Date Issued
2021-03-26
Date Acceptance
2021-03-16
Citation
International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2021, 113 (1)
ISSN
1201-9712
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume
113
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for InfectiousDiseases. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33775886
PII: S1201-9712(21)00265-4
Subjects
COVID-19
Health services
Migrant
Refugee
Tuberculosis
Publication Status
Published online
Coverage Spatial
Canada
Date Publish Online
2021-03-26