Medical assistance in Lampedusa and Trapani hotspots - Project 2014/2016

In the framework of an Agreement between the Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration of the Ministry of Interior and the NIHMP, from 2008 to 2011, the multidisciplinary NIHMP task force provided medical examinations in dermatology, infectious diseases and gynaecology to the migrants who reached the Lampedusa hotspot as well as for the resident population. The NIHMP task force also offered medical triage activities on the wharf as well as training and information courses for social, health care and police operators working in the first aid and reception centre of Lampedusa and in the outpatient department of Agrigento.
The intense research work carried out during project implementation allowed the creation of the book “Salute e migrazione” (i.e. Health and Migration). The book aims at providing useful information on the main aspects related with migration and health and at describing the assistance, research and training path realised by the Institute in the framework of the project.
NIHMP drew up a new agreement with the Ministry for Internal Affairs department for Civil Liberties and Immigration for the Lampedusa hotspot, where specifically, NIHMP provided a multidisciplinary team which includes specialist in different branches such as: pediatrics, infectious diseases, dermatology, clinical psychology, supported by cultural mediators trained for the health setting. Since April 2016 the aforementioned team works at the center for first aid and assistance in Trapani as well.

From April until October 31, 2016, the NIHMP multidisciplinary teams in the Lampedusa and Trapani-Milo hotspots performed 6.154 specialty visits (3.282 in Lampedusa and 2.872 in Trapani), 1.268 psychological assessments and thousands of transcultural mediations in Arab, French, English, Tigrinya and Aramaic. The population hosted in the Lampedusa and Trapani hotspots and examined by the NIHMP teams is mainly made up of men (83,5%), and the 18-34 age group is the most represented. The majority of people come from Africa, and the most represented countries in the hotspots are, in order, Nigeria, Eritrea, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and Gambia. 
In general, the clinical conditions treated in the hotspots do not pose a public health risk, and only few patients required more complex care or hospital admission. Few patients, and among them some minors, suspected of tuberculosis or malaria were identified and treated on the spot and, subsequently, transferred to the Sicilian hospitals.