Journal of Health & Medical Economics

Refugee Health and COVID-19 Response: How are Countries around the World dealing with Forcibly Displaced People in the Pandemic Time?

Objective: Analyze the current response against the COVID-19 concerned about forcibly displaced people around the world. Methods: Two electronic databases (MEDLINE PubMed and Google Scholar) were searched from July 2020 to December 2019. MeSH (Medical Subject Heading) terms were considered, resulting in the search strategy: “Refugees OR Displaced Persons OR Asylum Seekers OR Internally Displaced Persons OR Political Asylum Seekers or Political Refugees and COVID-19 or 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease or COVID-19 Pandemic or SARS-CoV-2 Infection or COVID-19 Virus Disease or 2019 Novel Coronavirus Infection or 2019-nCoV infection or Coronavirus Disease 2019 or Coronavirus Disease-19 or 2019-nCoV Disease or COVID-19 Virus Infection”. Results: At the findings highlighted the overcrowded conditions of the majority of the refugee camps, the poor sanitary conditions, in scarce of clean running water and soap, the fragile health systems and the often poor access to medical assistance, medicines and health provisions. Moreover, the discrimination, xenophobia, and racism suffered for refugees in host countries and the common misinformation and lack of access to awareness and knowledge of quality. Conclusion: It’s clear that no one can be left behind in this unprecedented crisis, since COVID-19 will not spare anyone, especially the forcibly displaced people who have increased risk in front of the novel coronavirus and are already passing through too much. For such that, refugee situation must be one of the majors concern to only to the host countries, but to every country around the world. As demonstrated, some has been done, however the efforts must be increased in a collective effort for every person concerned about those who are suffering in the current humanity.

Author(s): Italo Silva da Cruz1*, Kayo Resende Dias e Almeida2 and Modesto Leite Rolim Neto3

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