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www.huma-network.org/
HUMA Network – Improving access to health care for asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in the European Union
The HUMA project aims to promote asylum seekers and undocumented migrants’ and asylum seekers’ right to access health care on equal grounds with nationals. It also seeks to improve knowledge and awareness on access to health care for these populations in the EU among the general public and health professionals. It is constituted of more than 16 partners in different EU countries.
| Project Update March 2011 HUMA is a European advocacy network promoting access to health care for undocumented migrants and asylum seekers lead by MdM and composed of 16 organisations. Since Sept. 2010, a great advocacy work has been done towards the European Parliament : - Organisation of a public hearing on the 8 of December 2010 on access to healthcare for undocumented migrants pregnant women and children. - Successful lobby to integrate reference to undocumented migrants’ access to healthcare in the EP resolution to reduce health inequalities in the EU Other actions : - Reinforcement of our work towards health organisations, through the promotion of the petition named European Declaration of health professionals for a non-discriminatory access to healthcare, handed over to the Hungarian presidency on 22 of March 2011. - Realisation and publication of a new report in March 2011 after 8 months work « Access to healthcare and living conditions of asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in Cyprus, Malta, Poland and Romania ». - Support of our members’ advocacy at national level, in particular in the preparation of seminars organised in the last 6 months in Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Poland, Malta – and through the financial support of an exhibition in Germany and the Netherlands. |
- Read more about the impact of project up to May 2011 here
MdM News
MDM/HUMA: significant steps ahead in ensuring access to healthcare for undocumented migrants in the EU
The European Parliament’s resolution on Reducing health inequalities in the EU, adopted on 8 March 2011, calls on EU Member States to tackle inequalities in access to health care for undocumented migrants. HUMA played a key role in getting this resolution passed.
On 22 March 2011, the European Declaration of health professionals, signed by 141 national and European health organisations representing in total more than 6 million doctors and health professionals and 7.765 individual signatories, was presented by HUMA, health organisations and supporting MEPs to the Hungarian presidency.
(March 2011)
Raising awareness about access to healthcare for undocumented migrants
A public hearing on access to health care for undocumented pregnant women and children took place on 8 December at the European Parliament. The hearing was co-organised by several political parties and NGOs: MdM/HUMA, EAPN, EWL and PICUM. In addition, MdM/HUMA is promoting the ‘European Declaration of Health Professionals’ which it initiated, and calls on health organisations to sign it before March 2011, when it will be submitted to the authorities.
Download the Declaration
(January 2011)
New Publications:
Access to Healthcare and Living Conditions of Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants in Cyprus, Malta, Poland and Romania (2011) The main purpose of this report is to provide insight into the precarious situation and health problems of two of the most vulnerable groups living in Europe, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, in Cyprus, Malta, Poland and Romania. In more concrete terms, it provides an overview of the legal systems regulating access to healthcare for undocumented migrants, asylum seekers and their children in these countries, as well as comprehensive data about their living conditions, perceived health status and difficulties in accessing healthcare.
Are undocumented migrants and asylum seekers entitled to access health care in the EU? A comparitive overview in 16 countries(2010)
This report gathers together the executive summary of the HUMA publication “Access to health care for undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in 10 EU countries” (2009) and the results of a new piece of research undertaken in six more countries with the support of the HUMA partners. All together, this study concerns sixteen EU countries: Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.
Access to Healthcare for Undocumented Migrants in 11 European countries (2009)
This second European Observatory report takes another look at access to healthcare for people without a residence permit (from now on referred to as “undocumented migrants”). It combines the results of two complementary surveys. The first is a statistical survey focusing on adult undocumented migrants and the second, based on interviews, focuses on the situation of their children. These two surveys involved 1,218 adults who either participated in the quantitative survey (1,125) or provided their testimonies (93) to Médecins du Monde teams in 31 towns in 11 European countries.
Access to Healthcare for Undocumented Migrants and Asylum Seekers in 10 EU Countries: Law and Practice (2009)
In 2007, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) issued within the framework of a European project, a documented comparison of eleven countries regarding law and practice and raised the necessity to improve access to health care as an urgent priority in order to guarantee the minimum respect for Human Rights. Two years later, the present report seeks to provide an updated overview of the different systems regulating access to healthcare for undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in ten Members States (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK).
