The project “CARE - Common Approach for REfugees and other migrants’ health”, which has received funding from the European Union’s Health Programme (2014-2020), aims to promote a better understanding of refugees and migrants’ health condition as well as to support the adaptation of the appropriate clinical attitude towards refugees and migrants’ health needs and in particular towards the health needs of fragile subgroups, such as minors, pregnant women and victims of violence.
Participating countries are those at the moment facing the greatest burden of the migration crisis. In fact, they are either in the middle of the Mediterranean sea (Italy, Greece, Malta) or on the Balcanian route of refugees/migrants, and their policy and actions have clearly the highest impact also on neighboring Countries, depending on the actual ability to take care of the arrivals or at least to reduce and manage such an impact.
The CARE project was designed and is implemented in close cooperation with the national and local authorities of the involved Countries and is also coordinated with the ongoing activities for the migrant population, where already existing, in order to complement them and to introduce added values of EU cooperation, increased use of multidisciplinary approaches and improvements in the monitoring of activities and potential health risks.
Upon completion of the project, more appropriate health care deliveries, increased control of infectious disease risk in the early phase of migrant’s care and better taking care of migrants’ health over the European territory will have been obtained.
The official website is http://careformigrants.eu/
Objectives
Overall, the CARE project focuses on promoting and sustaining the good health of migrants and populations in Member States experiencing string migration pressure. More specifically, the CARE project was planned to meet the following operational objectives:
- Sustain the establishment of a multidisciplinary team in Hotspots and migrant’s Centres, in Italy, Greece and Croatia as well as promote appropriate healthcare provision to migrants and tackle health threats into the target Centres
- Ensure the rapid detection of disease outbreaks and potential public health emergencies occurring in hotspot/reception centers, contribute to prevent cross border health threats, assess the current policy in vaccination offer targeting newly arrived migrants, and provide information on endemic and currently epidemic diseases in the countries of origin and transit of newly arrived migrants to front line health care workers in order to complement the individual health assessment
- Realize a prototype of an integrated system for tracking and monitoring the health status of migrants/refugees at the moment of their arrival, based on advanced technology (smart devices and tags)
- Raise knowledge and awareness in general public with regard to “true” and “false” health topics about migrants and refugees
- Empower health professionals and non-health personnel (social workers, cultural mediators, volunteers, law enforcement operators, etc.) working outside Hotspots and other migrants’ Centres, to meet the needs of migrants at their first arrival, during their move and over their stay in the target MSs, considering also children and adolescent needs
- Promote migrants health literacy with emphasis on the right to access public health care services in MSs aiming to facilitate delivery of services to migrants, according to their age
- Support the development of integrated Public Health plans, relevant to migrants and refugees, based on: the synergies and complementarities between Public sector and civil society organizations; good practices and evidence based interventions
Partnership
The CARE project Consortium consists of a broad and highly skilled mix of public health authorities and civil society organisations from five European Countries (Italy, Greece, Malta, Croatia, Slovenia), all with scientific, policy and public health background, who can ensure that the project will successfully meet its objectives. The CARE consortium is characterized by its highly strategic partnership since the participating countries are the ones receiving the highest number of arrivals of refugees and other migrants through the main Mediterranean routes.
In order to achieve its expected results, the CARE project will be implemented in close cooperation with national and local authorities of the involved Member States
More specifically, the consortium consists of: seven organizations from Italy, five from Greece, one from Slovenia, one from Croatia and one from Malta.
- P1. National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty - Rome, Italy
- P2. National Institute of Public Health - Ljubljana, Slovenia
- P3. Italian Red Cross - Rome, Italy
- P4. Italian Ministry of Health - Rome,Italy
- P5. Praksis - Athens, Greece
- P6. National School of Public Health - Athens, Greece
- P7. Syn-Eirmos - Athens, Greece
- P8. CMT Prooptiki - Athens, Greece
- P9. Ministry of health – Government of Malta - Valletta, Malta
- P10. National Institute of Health - Rome, Italy
- P11. University hospital “Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Meyer” - Florence, Italy
- P12. Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital - Rome, Italy
- P13. Croatian Institute of Public Health - Zagreb, Croatia
- P14. OXFAM Italia Onlus - Arezzo, Italy
- P15. Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention - Athens, Greece
