 Please welcome you all to our third council panel on a theme that unfortunately has been too often neglected in the past but is extremely relevant and probably more relevant today than before. Modern migration trends and globalization have brought us all new challenges within the health sector, challenges that require innovative solutions and new partnerships. The distinguished panel we have today will assist us to respond to a lot of these questions such as those that you now see on the panel as the health of migrants been left behind in the global discourse on sustainable development. How do we avert health risks, mitigate vulnerabilities and promote positive practices associated with migration and health? What is the role of multilateral partnership including with humanitarian and development actors in the advancement of more migrant health inclusive multi-sector policies? Before I give the floor to the Director General of WHO Dr. Margaret Chan, I have the honor to share with you a statement graciously sent to us by the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and former Minister of Health, the Honorable Mitri Pala Siricena. His message will be delivered by his Excellency and our good friend, Ambassador of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Mr. Rabinata Aryasena. Ladies and gentlemen and delegates, I have the honor of delivering the message by his Excellency, President Mitri Pala Siricena. I quote, it is with great pleasure that I send this message to the 106th session of the International Organization for Migration. There is no doubt that your organization is a strong strategic partner globally and nationally in addressing problems related to migration. The people of my country and I greatly value the various ways in which the Sri Lankan Mission of your organization has assisted us in managing migration related issues around disasters and conflicts as well as the present post-conflict rapid development. In September 2011, when I was the Minister of Health, I was delighted to meet the Director-General, his Excellency William Lacey Swing, at the IOM Geneva headquarters. I believe that that meeting indeed strengthened the partnership between your organization and my country. Today Sri Lanka is recognized as the only country to have a dedicated, multi-sectoral and all-inclusive national migration health policy and national action framework. These aim at addressing the multifaceted health challenges that emerge during all stages of migration across various migrant groups. Sri Lanka is also now in the process of establishment of health assessment services for the inbound migrants arriving in the country with a migrant-friendly approach. Finally, considering the importance of this issue and Sri Lanka's role, I propose hosting a global consultation on lessons learned in advancing health of migrants. I would like to invite the International Organization for Migration to lead such a conference in Sri Lanka. With that suggestion, I conclude by extending my best wishes for the proceedings of the 106th IOM Council in addressing the complex challenges of migration. My tripala, Sri Sena, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador. It's now my great honor and pleasure to introduce someone whom many of you know already, Dr. Margaret Chan, a dynamic leader and a great friend personally and of our organization. She is, of course, the Director General of WHO and was first appointed by the World Health Assembly on the 9th of November 2006. The Assembly appointed Dr. Chan for a second five-year term at its 65th session in May of 2012. Dr. Chan, we're a great, great honor to have you here, you have the floor. And I think I'll ask the panelists to stay seated. Thank you. Thank you, Director General of IOM, Ambassador Swing. Excellencies, Honorable Ministers and Honorable Ambassadors, Distinguished Delegates and Distinguished Panel Members, ladies and gentlemen. It is, indeed, a great honor for me to speak before this 106th IOM Council at its high-level panel on Migration, Human Mobility and Global Health. Migration is a development issue and an issue for global health. IOM is an implementing partner distinguished by its decentralized structure and strong staff presence in countries well beyond capital cities. IOM and the Big Show have a long history of cooperation on migration and health. Our recent partnership, I'm sure, Ambassador Swing, you know about it, our recent partnership during the Ebola outbreak was deeply appreciated by the people of West Africa. Our hands-on care provided by your medical teams and your contribution to training and preparedness have made a life and death difference to many. High population mobility across exceptionally porous borders was one of the many factors that drove the disease spread and make the outbreak so complex and difficult to contain. On migration, in fact, the Big Show, IOM and the Government of Spain jointly organized a global consultation on migrant health in 2010. And even then, it was very clear that policies and strategies for managing migrant health were not keeping pace with the challenges. These challenges have now become a crisis with multiple political, foreign policy, financial security and health implications. The world is experiencing the largest population displacement ever seen since the end of Second World War. The scale of anti-migrant sentiment is equally unprecedented. But ladies and gentlemen, history tells us that migration is beneficial, bringing new ideas and an energetic and highly motivated workforce. This positive contribution has largely been forgotten. What we are seeing is false migration, caused by armed conflicts and violent extremism. War-torn countries are emptying. Their neighbors are saturated. In Lebanon, let me give a couple of examples. In Lebanon, refugees from the conflict in Syria represented 30% of the total population. In Jordan, the figure is 20%. And Turkey, I have to say, among one of those few countries who have been very generous to host more than 2.5 million refugees. This flood of desperate humanity has now reached Europe. The crisis is almost certain to be prolonged. With the prospect of peace so dire and so many cities laid waste and empty, migrants wonder whether they will have a home left to return to. In a world increasingly defined by vast inequalities in income levels and opportunities, migration is a fact of life. Most agree that the international community should do much more to address the root causes of false displacement. The new agenda for sustainable development recognizes migrants, refugees and displaced persons as vulnerable groups and calls for full respect for their human rights. Pursuing the new goals and targets under the SDG, and there is one on universal health coverage, this is important. I mean all the goals and targets, but more importantly, UHC is a very important target for global health and also for national health. Now the SDG will address multiple economic, social and environmental determinants of the well-being of people and the planet that sustains them. However, however, the changes needed to reach the overarching objective and let me quote peaceful and inclusive societies, it will take a long time to implement that objective. Given the unprecedented nature of recent events, we need immediate guidance. So, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to outline four urgent needs. First, we need better data on health needs as a foundation for setting realistic priorities. Many host countries lack the capacity and financing to deal with the health needs of their own citizens, much less those of migrants. Health information can provide a platform for aligning the efforts of other sectors and resources of international assistance. Migrants travel with their health profiles, which mirror health conditions, diseases and opportunities for care in their countries of origin. Threats to health can also arise during stressful travel, under crowded conditions and no guarantee for safe food and water. Fortunately, most health risks potentially carried by migrants can be managed by a well-functioning health system and we are seeing that in many of the recipient countries. Second, policy and legal frameworks in recipient countries were not designed to cope with an influx of health needs on such a scale. Legal guidelines and guarantee access to health care and other social services support policies that aim to integrate migrants and benefit from their presence. Policies that keep migrants in camps and deal with their health needs through separate services will contribute to their marginalization. Third, respect for the right to health requires migrant sensitive health systems. This means services that are culturally and linguistically appropriate and pay attention to some unique health problems including mental health disorders and trauma from injuries or torture. Finally, finally, we all understand the importance of collaborative networks and partnerships and international dialogue. These are essential to manage a health crisis of this magnitude. So ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to share with you our thoughts and I'm sure this high level panel will showcase IOM's leadership and look forward to working with you, Ambassador Swing, your team and other agencies and member states in particular to find opportunities to address this magnitude, this crisis of such magnitude. So thank you ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much Dr. Chan for that very important contribution. Thank you for reminding us that we started working together roughly in about 2010 with some of the first discussions at a conference, some of the documents we've been able to produce in between, I think also the 2009 World Health Assembly. Thank you for recalling this very unusual period in which we live of unprecedented conflicts, unprecedented forced displacement, unprecedented anti-migrant sentiment and I really like the four priorities you've outlined which fit in with so much of what we're thinking about now. I mean the data question has come up virtually every point along the way in these last two days and it's so critical. We're trying to get into this in a modest way and I would like to assume to come over and brief some of your staff on what we're doing to see how we might increase that partnership in that area too. The whole question of the policy and legal frameworks, even the facilities that I was also interested in, zero ebola but I was more concerned about post zero ebola, are we going to really stay the course or not in the matter of river union countries and then of course respect for the right to health if we can begin to change the mindset that migrants don't, they may be coming yes to take advantage of your free public services but you want them to have access, that's the way you have healthy communities and then finally the whole question of collaborative framework networks which is a little bit what we're about here today. So let me not prolong this any further but to thank you most graciously for this contribution. Introduce our next panelist, the Deputy Minister of Sierra Leone. I'm most grateful Madam Minister for your presence here today. You have been in office since 2014 and we're initially in the ministry as a management consultant for the western area hospitals in Freetown, the city I know well from my five years in Liberia and the neighboring country. Prior to that you served as director of nursing services for Rivera Health Systems in New Jersey in the U.S. where you migrated to in 1980. We should have her on the migrant voices panel, another migrant voice if you will. The minister has recently launched the ministry of health and sanitation of Sierra Leone's family planning campaign within the post Ebola recovery plan. Thank you very much for that and this year she was honored with a Clinton Global Citizen Award. I was actually there but I was in one of the back rows. I didn't have a chance to greet you. I want to thank you for that and so take this opportunity to recognize and express our admiration for your extraordinary commitment and resilience that's been demonstrated by your government and the very valiant people of Sierra Leone. Thank you for all you're doing there and let me give you the floor. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Your Excellency, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Sierra Leone would like first of all to start by congratulating you and your team for your election to lead the work of the 1st and 6th session of the IOM Council. Since joining the International Organization for Migration in April 2001, Sierra Leone has been a part of all its transformative processes including new policy initiatives such as the Migration Governance Framework, Advocacy Guidelines, Migration Protection Policy, and the Operational Framework to name but a few. Most recently, IOM has once more demonstrated its solid commitment to the people of Sierra Leone by championing the fight against Ebola through actively deploying its staff to the battle front in the worst affected areas of the country. The organizations are a multi-pronged approach of fighting Ebola through the strengthening of infection prevention and control measures. Mobile training campaign and its robust airport and border control contributed largely to winning the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone. The selfless devotion of IOM's courageous humanitarian staff will remain engraved in the minds of our compatriots for a very long time to come. Please permit me to mention for emphasis's sake that IOM also played a vital role in providing assistance to thousands of people affected by a disastrous flooding in the mid-September of this year that left thousands of people homeless in Sierra Leone. Migration within our towns, districts and across borders within the sub-region continued to play an important role in defining the global health agenda. The Ebola epidemic has reinforced the need to better understand and reflect upon the impact of migration and human mobility from a health perspective. IOM is working to support the government of Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in collaboration with WHO, the United Nations country team and other development partners in the fight against Ebola virus disease and the flawed response by providing leadership on infection prevention control to ensure quality healthcare and safety measures for patients and healthcare workers as it relates to other infectious diseases. IOM is also providing support regarding the development of a curricular and development of arms-short courses to support government hospitals, primary care facilities and the private sector with over 12,000 trained medical and frontline practitioners. In terms of leadership on cross-border issues and mobility management, IOM has established a network of flow monitoring points to collect passenger data and build the response capacity and security services in terms of disease surveillance, contact tracing and deployment of skilled personnel. In collaboration throughout the region on cross-border assessment and program delivery for health promotion, disease prevention and health security for population affected by mobility and AVD. IOM also have and provided emergency leadership coordination and guidance on natural disaster management as the camp coordination and camp management lead agency through the provision of training, distribution of non-food items and shelter, victim registration and consultation on possible relocation strategies for flawed prone areas. They have also expressed their intended ambitious plan to work towards strengthening the CLION healthcare system through the temporary return of qualified CLION in diaspora and healthcare professionals as myself. Expertise is needed in IPC and WASH interventions and IOM has contributed to six facilities in that and 21 private hospitals and clinics have also been supported in terms of our WASH program. During the Ebola outbreak, a round-arm infection control through the creation of short IPC courses and medical training schools in order to build and restore confidence around the healthcare system in CLION and ensure patient and health worker safety moving forward. As we know, the reason why we got into the outbreak and the outbreak was so intense in CLION was because of the fragility of our health system and building that health system to an acceptable level is very, very important in CLION right now. In conclusion, let me use this opportunity to acknowledge the exemplary leadership and the good work provided by the head of mission and his team in marshalling the organization's program for the benefit of the people of CLION. They have coordinated IOM activities in our country and have been instrumental to the cordial and amicable working relationship with CLION government. Thank you very much again for another very important contribution. I just want to make a couple of comments on this. I think Dr. Chan can attest to this, that frankly what the Ebola virus disease did for us was it brought us much closer to both WHO, CDC Atlanta and other partners in the field. We came to know our various capacities and I think that was very important and you've called our attention to the cross-border issues, the mobility element in health, in migrant health. I have to say on a personal note that I learned a lot about IOM staff that I should have known before, but I was very impressed that the 100 people that we managed to surge into the area there, not one turned me down despite the risk to their lives. They went and they came back forcibly in good shape, but I was pleased at the courage they showed in doing that and they of course were very well-received and had good partnerships with you. Thank you for calling attention also to our very important Return of Qualified Nationals program. I'm glad to see that we have one of you among us today. We've done the same in Somalia now. We brought back about 125 Somali Nationals at various skill levels to help the government there. So thank you very much for that and thank you for recognizing our very good head of office who's a prominent Sierra Leonean. He's gotten a promotion out of this and I know you like him, but he's good enough I may be taking him elsewhere. I'll give you someone else who's good. Let me move right on here and let's introduce our next distinguished panelists, Mr. Ioannis Bascosos, Secretary General of Public Health of Greece since February this year. And Mr. Bascosos, thank you very much and you have the floor. Honourable Ministers, Director General, Dear President. Dear colleagues, I'm extremely honoured to participate in IOM's high level panel that for the first time brings health in the migration debate and vice versa. The excellent cooperation between the IOM and the WHO is confirmed by the participation of Dr. Margaret Chan today in this panel. This I believe such a very good example of cooperation and solidarity among countries which in the last year have been faced with a high number of migratory flows. The refugee crisis and the dramatic increase of the millions of people moving away from war-torn countries and hunger to Europe constitute a harsh reality which reasonably enough has escalated this as a high priority issue in the European political agenda and has been posed as a political priority for an effective response. This panel, organised by the IOM, focuses on the health care of refugees is an excellent opportunity for a valid and credible evaluation of the countries engaged in this unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Of course, the overall issue in summits and high level meetings is to identify specific measures and to agree upon robust policy plans in dealing with this major social problem which preoccupies the whole of the European countries. In Greece, we do not forget the migration waves of our compatriots in the early 20th century and after the Second World War towards developed countries. We do not also forget that after 1922 Greece received a large wave of refugees from Asia Minor. All the same, Greece has also been in the receiving end welcoming hundreds of thousands of immigrants after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Most of them integrated well in our society. However, we have to acknowledge that the problems we faced and mistakes made after this wave of migrants and refugees. Europe has been built upon the principles of democracy, freedom, solidarity, partnership and humanism and to guarantee the essential political agreement and common action in front of this tragedy that takes place every day in the GNC, the Mediterranean Sea and in the overland pathways to central Europe. We must also not forget that today other countries in the region as well as the African countries are under huge pressure from refugee and migration flows. Presently, Greece receives 80% of the refugees and migrants moving to Europe. 70-100 of these people are identified as refugees, of which 25 are children and 16 women. The social and epidemiological profile of the population has been altered recently since it encompasses mostly families, infants, little children, pregnant women and elderly. Obviously, they do not constitute a public health bomb and do not carry communicable diseases. However, these people are in need of primary health care services and emergency care since they are experiencing tremendous hardship. They are also in need of timely recording and triage and frequently they are in need of immediate referral to our national health system, hospitals, units of primary health care, medical centers and evacuations via the National Center for Emergency Care. This panel at this IOM Council comes as a continuation of the very important and successful high-level meeting for the migration and health of who Europe that took place two days ago at Rome and focused on health care for refugees and the conclusions arising from the experience of countries in the region until now. At the core of the conclusions is the need for cooperation and solidarity, need to develop protocols for the prevention and treatment of refugees and migrants, the requirement to find more appropriate ways to exchange data between the transit countries of refugees and countries of reception, transit or residents with respect to human rights and cultural particularities of these people. Greece, through laws and reform currently underway, is aiming to move closer to universal coverage and achieve equity for the population in its public health services. We believe that and we work towards so this right should also be acknowledged for the refugees coming to our country. Developing policies to adequately deal with the health care needs of the refugees and the relative health inequalities is a great challenge for the public health of the member states of who Europe and it is related to the security of health worldwide. Health systems must now cope with the vast surge of refugees aiming at both the improvement of their health and the avoidance of stigmatization. The increasing influx of refugees poses challenges to the security as well as public health and the health systems of the member states of the Europe and specifically the EU. As far as Greece is concerned, we have started to implement our commitment to create hotspots and the Ministry of Health has completed a plan of action for health coverage of the first reception countries. The tragic account in human life and the excessive encumbrance imposed on many islands of the eastern Aegean make it even more imperative to find a permanent and viable solution. As far as we are concerned, we have satisfied the current needs for health coverage without being provided for by the European funds. For this reason, we had to give two ad hoc solutions using our own means. About 2000 refugees and migrants have been hospitalized with costs exceeding the sum of 1 billion euros. The Ministry of Health has done the following. The system of diagnosis and prompt detection of patients is being used at the eastern Aegean points of entry for the evaluation and treatment of medical needs of refugees. Medical units are organized on a daily basis as the pre-depassive centers as well as 24-hour operations of medical units as the open hospitality centers. Two mobile units of Red Cross have been transferred to Macedonia near the concentration refugee center at the border with Fero. The Secretary General of Public Health has created a personal travel health report for the refugees in collaboration with the EOM and the European Commission using the immediate information concerning their current needs. This report will be used by all health care providers. The purpose of this action is to contribute to the continuous and unobstructed health care provision until all refugees have reached their final destination. Alongside, we process in collaboration with WHO the registration of basic health information of refugees on a short sheet. We have secured adequacy in medicines. At least we have tried to secure adequacy in medicines and health products. And we also have been able to tackle the medical issues of the new coming refugees in a satisfactory way despite the fact that this problem is huge. Not to mention the condition that the public structures of our islands are in a situation which is far from ideal. This is the result of the concerted efforts made by the local people, the medical staff, the NGOs and citizens' song solidarity. Yet the major and the most serious health risk is the risk of death, which results from the refugees' desperate attempt to cross the sea from the Turkish coast land to the Gian Islands. A comprehensive and direct management of this phenomenon requires an agreement regarding identification and registration of all refugees in Turkey so as to stop this death course through stormy and cold GNC. The need of solidarity and assistance to Turkey is an integral part of this solution. Meanwhile, the treatment of hypothermia, because of exposure, too, in the cold water, the treatment of wounds and fractures, the vaccinations based on protocols, the right sanitation conditions related to their hospitality and accommodation at the first deception centers, the treatment of chronic diseases, prevention and immediate treatment of infectious diseases, the constant need to provide psychological support our priority for our health system. Furthermore, the need of a prompt assistance from the European mechanism became one way road. Completing. We commit to the following. The strengthening of primary and secondary health care services at all points of entry. The improvement of the coordination between the structures of the public health system, the NGOs and the international organizations. The creation of a constitutional frame for the documentation, supervision and coordination of the NGOs for access to the field and the provision of health services. The documentation and rational allocation of medical products. An important factor is the development of the intercultural mediators and also the health workers who are among refugees and migrants. Our government proceeded from an attitude of a constructive negative approach to the logic of humane reception policy. We established the Ministry of Migration Policy that coordinates all host operations for refugees and migrants. Under the coordination of the Secretary General of Public Health established the Committee for Health Coverage of Refugees and Immigrants. Also, the Secretary General of Public Health is the Head of the Committee for the National Action Plan of Migration and Health. The refugee issue in the health sector has in others tests fundamental human values. The resulting changes will either help proceed in the direction of strengthening more cooperation, solidarity and humanitarian or towards dangerous pathways leading to the closing of borders, xenophobic outbursts and uncontrolled societal reactions. For us, the road we must choose is very clear. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for a very, I should say, very both very sobering but also very encouraging presentation. We've now had a global overview by the Director General of WHO. A specific challenge in terms of a killer disease and now a problem of how do you deal with the large flows because of the 800 and close to 850,000 who've gone north more or closer to 650 or 700,000 have gone by the Greek corridor there. I want to congratulate and thank your government and your people for all your efforts to try to stand by these migrants. Particularly, I know the kind of financial and institutional challenges it poses. I particularly want to, in respect of death, which is our great fear, having lost now 3,500 this year, I want to particularly acknowledge and thank the Hellenic Coast Guard for a very courageous work they've done in the thousands and thousands of lives that the Hellenic Coast Guard has saved. The universal coverage as a goal, I think that's a very inspirational goal for us that you try to make everybody have access to that. And I know our colleague, Special Advisor to the Foreign Affairs Minister in Thailand will also have something to say on that because Thailand is one of those countries with the best view of migrants full access. And we are ready to help, of course, with the resettlement as well as the relocation of the 160,000 who've been now agreed to inside the European Union. So let me thank you for that and move right along. I want to introduce next a good friend, the Honourable Ambassador of the Pernod Mission of Finland, Paivik Iramo. She arrived here in July of 2012. She's been very active in a number of fields. She was previously in the UN and Global Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Helsinki and has held various positions over the years within the office of the President of the Republic of Finland. Thank you, Madam Ambassador. Thank you. Thank you so very much, Director General Ambassador Sving. Ladies and gentlemen, Finland considers that it is important that the issue of migrant health is being discussed various forum and we absolutely want to thank the IOM for arranging this panel discussion today. In fact, the acknowledgement by different international organisations of the importance of health and wellbeing of migrants, regardless of their respective mandates, is exactly the theme of which I have been asked to address to you today as a representative of Finland, i.e. working across sectors. In 2006, during our presidency of the European Union, Finland launched an initiative called Health in All Policies, a theme which has since then stayed firmly on the global health agenda I am happy to know. Determinants of health are present in practically all policy sectors and the same applies often to risk factors too. The key feature of Health in All Policies is that it encourages all policy sectors to take health and health inequalities into account independently and automatically without even intersecting sectoral cooperation. The health sector can of course always advocate its goals in political decision making but in many issues impacting health it has no mandate to act. We consider that Health in All Policies is of relevance at all levels from the global to the local. Migration is an area where the mandates and responsibilities are distributed across several sectors of administration. Often, it is the Ministry of the Interior that is the first responsible for the immediate actions when countries receive migrants, particularly in large numbers. It is often the case that migrants from different reasons have not had access to health services in their countries of origin or during their journey. After arrival, they are often exhausted even traumatized and their chronic conditions may have even worsened or they have developed new ones. Health sector is called to identify those in the need of immediate medical attention. Later, social protection, housing, education and many other authorities need to be engaged. This all can be very complex set of tasks. Finland has been working with the IOM for many years to improve health and well-being of migrants. Currently, Finland is supporting a project implemented by IOM in Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. The target group of the project is migrants in vulnerable situations such as victims of trafficking, single mothers and unaccompanied migrant children. The project assists migrants in need of medical care and supports the national authorities to strengthen their capacity to respond and to provide services which are adapted to the needs of the migrants. Finland is also supporting IOM in strengthening health sector in Somalia which was already referred to by Director General by developing its human resources capacities with the assistance of Somali diaspora health professionals. Diaspora professionals are assigned for nine to 18 months to contribute to improving the capacity of public sector healthcare facilities in Somaliland and Bundland to provide quality healthcare services. Before concluding, allow me to use this opportunity to say a few words on the Global Health Security Agenda which is a global partnership shared this year by Finland. This Global Health Security Agenda includes today some 50 countries and of course organizations like WHO and the European Union Worldwide. The objectives of this initiative is to accelerate health system strengthening and preparedness capacity at the country level stimulate the collaboration of global actors in the field and bring high level political attention to health systems strengthening and health security. A central goal is to enhance globally the implementation of the international health regulations and in today's globalized world our level of preparedness and responses to threats need to be broad and that is also true for migration. I thank you very much Mr. Director General. Thank you very much Madam Ambassador for reminding us that health is societal wealth and we need to have a positive health for all. Thank you for calling attention to a very long standing partnership that IOM enjoys with the government of the Republic of Finland. You mentioned a number of the countries I particularly attached to the work that we do together in Somalia we think that your global health security agenda is a role model to be followed as we try to strengthen health services. Our next speaker Mr. Chassiri Anamara advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs since earlier this year he's a distinguished diplomat with 40 years of distinguished service in the field of public service he's held a number of positions in government and he served as Director General in the important department of consular affairs and has been honored with numerous distinctions decorations and awards so Mr. Anamara you have the floor. Thank you. Mr. Director General distinguished members ladies and gentlemen first let me congratulate IOM on the successful organization of this high level panel discussion on migration and health to give in Thailand the honor to share views and experience in this area One objective for this event today is to stress once more the link between migration and health and to call for all states to recognize the importance of migrants health and take necessary actions in terms of policy and implementation to provide quality health services for migrants dealing with migrants across the globe today together with increasing and continuing trend of migration due to increasingly more globalized world migrants health is becoming very significant agenda of global health it will soon dominate health policy discourse and failure to address though the issue properly will lead to more chronic problems in the wrong realm migrants health is a cross cutting issue and providing health care access to and delivering quality health services for migrant request efforts and cooperation from several agencies and actors in Thailand migrants health has been streamlined into both health and migration policies the Ministry of Labor is mainly responsible for the management of labor migration while the Ministry of Public Health considers that all individuals living in Thailand have access to health services when needed despite their migration status on migration management Thailand recognize the need to provide a channels of safe migration to ensure better protection for migrants keeping Thailand's central location in south east Asia migration particularly labor migration from neighboring countries has been a key factors to our policy designed to address the management challenges at the same time when the scheme was first initiated there were a large number of undocumented migrants who were already working illegal in the country therefore the scheme consists of first and foremost the registration of illegal workers who are already in Thailand upon registration in the system they are provided with protections and are entitled to write to rights and basic services in accordance with our laws under the scheme part of the registration is the application of health insurance with the state as a further incentive the state offers heavy subsidies for the cause of the insurance while application for health insurance is not obligatory to be encouraged moreover in order to promote the use of insurance if for any reason migrant workers and their dependents fail to apply for health insurance during the registration process they will be offered the chance to apply again when they visit any state hospital under this insurance migrant workers and their dependents are entitled to basic services on par nationals under Thailand's universal health coverage scheme additional migrant friendly services are also provided in order to ensure that migrants are given quality services when needed interpreters are high to stand by at the hospital to facilitate and overcome any language barrier while migrant health volunteers are high to make house visits and educate migrants on basic health issues as well as to follow up on treatments and medication state hospitals also work very closely with civil society organization both local and international civil society actors are well connected to networks of migrants and the hospital use these connections to their benefits in cases where migrants are unreachable or are difficult to reach hospital depend on the civil society actors to come in and fill the gap civil society actors can also contribute through their knowledge, expertise and experiences in interacting with migrants this is because they work with migrants long before the state steps in and therefore have more practical experiences and understanding of health needs for migrants than state employees the civil society actors including some migrants themselves are also high as health volunteers and interpreters to reach out to migrants for undocumented migrants who fail to register for any reason why they are not eligible to apply for this health insurance there will be given treatment and that require as it is our policy they will turn patients away this is also common in state hospital among the border where the migrants from neighboring countries often visits temporarily to receive treatments not available across the border it is however their responsibility to pay for treatments out of their own pocket but in cases where they cannot afford the treatments the hospital will solve the cost this situation will be why worrying and resulting in quite a huge burden on our public health budget is the drive for us to push for more registration to undocumented workers in Thailand of undocumented workers in Thailand and to promote safe and legal channels for labour migration recognising the rising importance of migrants health in international agenda Thailand has chaired our practices with other countries whenever we can one such initiative was the regional workshop of migrants health which we in collaboration with IOM hosted on the 27th to 28th August this year the workshop comprises a meeting during which practices and experiences of migrants health will share as well as a study visit to hospital with one of the largest migrant population in the country to allow participants to observe migrants health policy firsthand one of the most significant conclusion of form the workshop was that it is necessary to mainstream migrants health international and sectoral policies including foreign and migrant policy in order to more better coherence and ensure that the migrants have access to the continuum of parental and health services throughout their entire migration cycles the workshop also recommended for migrants health to be pushed beyond the national agenda and for the region to cooperate further in this area with greater connectivity and mobility of people health security concerns have become more apparent regional health security will be greatly enhanced with coordinated health policy and practices for all countries concern areas such infections disease control and prevention can use better and more coherence responses for all countries in the region exchange of knowledge and information is necessary for pump containment of disease the region can also benefit from the pooling of resources in coming up with treatment and cures these efforts cannot just be on an ad hoc basis a permanent stable system is needed in cases of unexpected emergencies the Ebola crisis or the proof that health risks no boundaries and highlights in the fertility of human security the latest outbreak of MERS in Asia also demonstrated the need for prompt coordination and decision making for all parties in order to protect populations at risk from the virus in Thailand what was encouraging and inspiring during the MERS outbreak was the coordination between our authority and foreign embassies in Bangkok to contact and quarantine their national who came into contact with the patient cooperation was not limited to just within Thailand alone but was extended to other regional frameworks during the MERS outbreak the ICN plus three health minister special video conference was the threat of MERS Cove in the region by Thailand on 27 July this year the conference aimed to exchange information and progress of disease containment in Thailand and share our experience and approaches in putting disease surveillance preparation and responses in places including effective public communication and for countries concern to discuss the way forward to enhance preparedness and regional responses to MERS such coordinated and prompt responses to emergency health crisis can only be achieved with diplomacy and foreign policy that takes into account migration health aspect cooperation to also be extended to international organization such as the IOM and the World Health Organization to gain from knowledge and expertise in health practices during the MERS scare Thailand engage WHO throughout the episode it was to seek guidance from the experts and ensure that the practices we adopt were of the highest standard such activities clearly demonstrate collective efforts that showcase international responsibility of all countries it also very importantly demonstrates diplomacy and work under the umbrella of disease control and prevention in non-emergency situation regional cooperation is still beneficial in terms of capacity building and exchange of knowledge it is also used when interrupted management of conditions necessary for long term or continuing treatment needs to be ensured to conclude it is essential that both migration and migrants health issue are streamlined into foreign policy as well as security and immigration policy is to ensure coordinated and governance policies and practices to safeguard and maintain human security for all thank you thank you very much Mr. Annamaran for that very important presentation I thank you in particular and commend you for Thailand's policy of universal health care including refugees and migrants irrespective of their status using registration as a means of protection for the migrants very important your contacts with the civil society in assisting yourself in this regard thank you for your conference on addressing your regular migrant flows the second version which I will be attending next month thank you for the invitation I want to support you on that and finally I want to recall that in addition to a large regional office in Bangkok we have one of our most senior health officers MOTUS let me now introduce and welcome our last speaker thank you for your patience sir happy to welcome the director general for health and food safety of the European Commission who's been in this job only very recently responsible for all EU policies and programs in the health and food safety area including promotion of public health assessment of national health care systems performance and other areas and before this he was deputy and then director general for education and culture responsible for EU policies in those areas you have the floor sir the swing that the general chan ministers delegates and gentlemen it's you know it's such an honor to be here today sharing a panel with the leaders of the two institutions that speak for the international community in the field of migration and health and to speak at a moment which as you have heard so eloquently from the representative of the Greek Ministry of Health a moment that is really a very dramatic moment for Europe as everybody knows we have an influence of migrants 750,000 migrants this year alone in Europe and this has been really a challenge for you is and will remain a challenge for Europe I will not try to improve on what the general chan has said on the overall picture let me just say a few words and let me start by one very simple fact that should and I think it is you're obvious to most of all the delegates here today but I think it's a point that needs to be repeated and needs to be continue to be repeated and this is that we have very clear evidence about the health of migrants the health of the refugees who are in Europe today these migrants these refugees are actually in good health they are weak they are dehydrated they need shelter they need help they are occasionally wounded and we have heard very eloquently from the Greek Ministry the situation they face but essentially these migrants are not a threat to Europe in terms of communicable diseases I'm saying this because it is obvious but also because we hear voices in Europe that try to pretend the opposite and sometimes one has to think that it is very important for the world and certainly for Europe to learn from the past and we should not repeat what Europe has done in the past in the way it has treated immigrants minorities that were running away from disaster so this is a very simple fact on which we have the evidence we know that refugees in Europe are not a threat however they are vulnerable they should be a priority because in the light of the weak conditions in which they come in they should be a priority for our health system just to view us about what needs to be done and what is being done I think that in Europe given the nature of the situation we have today it is very important to distinguish between what we have to do what we are doing in the short term and in the long term in the short term there are really very clear short term needs the first of course is money let me just say very briefly that Europe has done an effort we had a budget for refugees at the beginning of the year since the months of May double that budget we have now about 10 billion euro at the disposal of our member states for refugee assistance next this year and next but now of course you have to think of other immediate needs and the needs are enormous and here I would like to take just one example of which I must say without false modesty I am actually very proud for my department and I hope that Ambassador Swing will agree with me because this is an example of exceptionally good and efficient cooperation between the European Commission and the IOM we produced a simple personal health record and a handbook for health care professionals which has a very simple purpose it is a way to make sure that when refugees come we can reconstruct the health record the health history so that these refugees can keep that health history and take it with them when they go from one country to the other if they move an instrument for health care professionals to have a quick immediate diagnosis of immigrants it doesn't look like much but it's certainly a very immediate short-term need it has to be covered and I must say the two institutions that are very different animals if I may say so like IOM and the Commission have managed to show that when there is political, when there is determination they can work effectively quickly together we've done this with our member states in the European Union and it is a concrete example of how we have to mobilize our efforts to make sure that the short-term needs of migrants and refugees are met immediately and I don't need to tell you the urgency that there is to do more because the Greek representative has said this far more eloquently and far more credibly than I could ever do what I can assure you is that the European Commission is doing whatever it can to support member states and in particular frontline member states especially Greece that has 80% of the immigrants that come to the shores of the EU to help them on the immediate needs but then will come the longer term and here is where I think Europe has the real challenge because I have no doubt that eventually Europe will manage to address the immediate needs of the integration of these refugees where they are now but then will come something different which is that Europe has built itself on principles on moral principles, on ideals and what is a test now for Europe is not that we have a refugee crisis is not that we have a humanitarian disaster we do have that but we also have a crisis of solidarity, solidarity between European citizens between European countries and an extraordinary need to show in Europe that we Europeans do learn from our past and that we are capable of addressing the diversity of our societies in a proper way and to do it in a solidary way this is in the end will be the test of whether Europe can overcome the refugee crisis today briefly because I am conscious of time and I am the last speaker and actually the last obstacle between this audience and free speech I believe a few words about what we are doing in my DG in my department in the longer term we are focusing on one very simple priority we want to improve access effectiveness and the resilience of our healthcare systems of our national healthcare systems this is an overriding policy concern we have with a limited but important means and this is the way for us to address also the longer term structural problems of the integration of refugees and migrants into our societies we have with or without immigrants with or without refugees a great challenge in Europe to address inequality to address equity issues to make sure that access to public care and public health is really universal I think that there is a very simple principle to follow refugees who are legally in Europe should deserve the same treatment the same equity the same guarantees of health that any other citizen in Europe receives this is a natural if I may say so Mr Chairman is how we look into the future with a lot of apprehension about the challenge but also with hope that Europeans will be able to stand up to the nature of the challenge we feel today thank you thank you very much Mr Director General very important very important comments about the European policy on the migrant flows now I mean obviously as you say they're not a health hazard but they themselves are vulnerable I'm delighted that we could collaborate with you in producing the useful handbook for migrants on health and I think you've absolutely outlined the real issue before us is the longer term and I like to think that there is a silver lining on this dark cloud which is that somehow that we've solved that crisis and solidarity and come together around and finally meet that elusive objective of having a common long term comprehensive European Union migration and asylum policy which would address a lot of these issues but we'll get into that I'm sure in discussion I don't want to take any more of your time I want to thank our speakers and then turn immediately to you our Member States and guests for questions and comments that you might have we have a limited amount of time left but then I'll come back to the panel you have the floor and then Venezuela somebody has to take notes for me yes you have the floor is your microphone on please speak up can you thank you very much Ambassador Swing and all the panelists for the very insightful comments contributions I have the essay to brief comments first of all on the issue of preparedness since the Ebola crisis a number of discussions and efforts have been made how the international community will be able to better respond to the health crisis but unfortunately less attention has been made to how we can strengthen the preparedness not in the time of crisis and we believe that it is very important to pay more attention to the preparedness with particular emphasis on the population including migrants and on that particular point we would like to see the the WHO will take prominent and pivotal role in guiding the international efforts to strengthen the preparedness and also we would like to see IOM provide their own expertise to the issue in which they will adequately address the very unique and special needs of the migrants on that point my second point is that health system strengthening and in fact preparedness for the emergency health crisis is a part and parcel of the entire health system strengthening and we have seen many cases in before that the in the country where we have robust health system we see less damage on the time of crisis but the country have only as a poor health system so we see as a triple and multiple damages coming out of the emergency health crisis and on that point Japan chair of the next G7 has been advocating to establish an international alliance where in the different donors and agencies so we work in unity to address the issue of health system strengthening including the preparedness thank you very much thank you very much Venezuela, Libya and Australia we start with Venezuela thank you very much Director General for the invitation and for the special kind and all these distinguished keynote speakers which we just heard and they are a country of shits especially the one that by Margaret Chan and we have worked together with WHO in another tragic setting this Margaret and also the crisis as well we work together and because of this we welcome this one of the main lessons that we've learned with Ebola has been the need to make sure that the world is really ready for crisis as soon as they break out and all of this chaos has been and this leads to uncertainty and errors of course now the whole health issue and in particular the migraines health is but the whole issue of coordination this can lower cost and reduce the need for sacrifices and that is exactly what the colleague from Japan pointed out we have to be really aware we have to understand that is really the greatest asset for the people of the world as the distinguished ambassador from Finland just pointed out to us we wish to can one of the key aspects covered by the DG's report which we appreciated when there was a reference to the coherency change and the third seat these efforts that are being made really the aim is to work together in partnerships with the parliaments and local authorities this is a very inclusive and extremely important and we would like to congratulate Iowa for the recent initiative which was held into the kind of meeting in Geneva with local authorities this is really going further than what has been done before and this will help us to really move ahead and deepen the efforts that we are already making with the member states it's a universal public health coverage in success in Venezuela and migrants can also enjoy this universal health coverage at the same level as any normal citizens we have to continue improving our efforts in this field and I would just like to conclude with a sense that has already been said we should really stop our efforts we should redouble our efforts and do better, thank you thank you very much actually another set of key speakers it's really marvelous to hear that we have now in front of us two DGs the director general and Dr. Chen which is something very significant and also the other two speakers actually talking about their presentations is like it makes the person run out of words but I have to a little tiny question to the gentleman from Finland but before then I just wanted to have a little tiny comment about the gentleman from Greece well it's an optimistic and very challenging set of programs and set of initiatives that you do have and frankly speaking we in Libya we do envy you because we have the potential to do a lot more like you but what happens as everybody knows although we are one of the richest countries in the world but now we are one of the poorest among all these countries around due to the chaotic and the chaotic ongoing crisis that we don't know until when it's going to come to an end the question to the gentleman from Finland I heard you you've mentioned a number of countries that were targeted by your your initiatives and one of them is my country Libya so I just wonder how could it happen I mean what kind of strategy in order to somehow provide healthcare services in a country that's a little bit going to the deteriorating humanitarian situation a health system that is collapsed totally I wonder how could you somehow how would you think you'd be able to target these people in that particular area thank you very much thank you sir floor is yours thank you director general and I'll be very brief I'd firstly like to thank the panel it's a very interesting session and particularly for Australia we've had a long term interest in this subject and we certainly welcome the focus for IOM at this council this year IOM's operational role in migrant health and thematic lead for migration makes it a key actor and influencer in this field and I would like to pay particular tribute to the migration health division they've done fantastic work and they're very responsive and always creative we underline that migrant health has been a strong policy and operational partnership for us with IOM for many decades as a country of migrants we've had a long term interest in migration and health dynamics that is we know that migration has an impact on migrants health and that health can also influence migration patterns these are complex interplays that need to be better understood and where we still have some work to develop a strong evidence base my question to the panel therefore is how do we go about building the evidence base on migration health challenges and what key information do we think is missing now that is specific to these challenges thank you thank you very much, Italy you have the floor thank you director general first of all I want to express the appreciation and gratitude of Italy for the quality and the impact of the projects implemented by IOM in migrant health sectors our national authorities embedded coping with the reception and the assistance to migrants especially in the present often dramatic circumstances also for these reasons Italy attaches and will attach the utmost importance to its long-standing cooperation with IOM besides Italy commends IOM for the report advancing the unfinished agenda of migrant health for the benefit of all and for the inclusion of the migrant human mobility and global health item in the agenda of the IOM 106th session while recognizing the mandate and leading role of WHO in health sector we sincerely appreciate the existing cooperation and partnership between the IOM and WHO in addressing migration health concerns particularly since the adoption by the World Health Assembly of Resolution 61-17 in 2008 also thanks to its experience and capacity in this field it is critical that IOM continue the promotion of migrants health services and the provision of assistance to member states in addressing the migration health concerns we believe that these challenges can be better addressed in framework of a multi-sector partnership and with a wide and comprehensive approach to natural propensity of IOM to work with a wide range of partners as countries of origin transit and destination the health sector development and humanitarian partners and civil society put the organization in a unique position in order to assume a pivotal role in this field easily cannot but share IOM concerns regarding health vulnerabilities faced by migrants prior to their repartures from conflict and disaster zones during their disaster journeys and in some cases also upon arrival and counters of destination the provision of adequate care for refugees and migrants is important not only for the overall public health allocation across the WHO European region health is a fundamental human right and an essential component of sustainable development that is why the Italian health system ensures today access to urgent and essential care also to undocumented migrants that are particularly vulnerable and will encounter barriers to accessing healthcare because of their irregular status and socio-economic marginalization that stands for the right of refugees and migrants to access national healthcare services thanks to an efficient combination of favorable national and local policies as also lighted by the 2015 migration integration policy index I also wish to take this occasion to briefly report on the outcome of the high level meeting on refugee and migrant health which took place earlier this week in Rome the conference jointly convened by the WHO regional office for Europe by the Italian government gathered 53 member states of the WHO European region registering a wide and qualified participation from Africa and Middle East regional offices and from international organization including IOM the high level meeting has developed along the consensual approach and will lead after the last comments from states will be embodied in the text to the adoption of an outcome document that could represent the basis for progressing towards coordinating and collaborative action across the WHO European region addressing health needs of refugees and migrant populations animated by a sense of urgency for the current large-scale flows of refugees and migrants toward the European region the conference focused on the following themes the importance of properly facing the mediatic dimension of the migratory issues avoiding the diffusion of prejudice false perceptions and the stigmatization of migrants the necessity to grant equal right of access to health systems for migrants refugees and nationals of receiving countries a proposal from Sweden to put special attention to an accompanying migrant children received vast consensus from the participants the need to move along a parallel track in order to take all the challenges posed to countries of transit and destination peculiar attention has been paid also to mental health issues of migrants that often have traumatic origin from a practical point of view the establishment of a common database has been proposed to follow migrants moving in the European region only from a sanitary point of view and follow respect in their privacy finally great emphasis has been posed to the fact that the overall process will be open to the other international organization and to NGOs from a global point of view Italy has proposed to WHO Executive Board an additional item on migration and health and that item will be discussed in January 2016 with a view to probing a WHO resolution in order to update the resolution that was adopted on the issue in 2008 thank you we're out of time but I do want to give the panel a chance to make any brief responses that they would like to make perhaps we'll talk to Chan thank you very much Ambassador Srin let me thank all these member states who have spoken on the very important subject and let me start with Italy in fact I did not mention the wrong meeting is because my colleague from Greece I know he will mention it and I talked to Susanna Jacob I said I'm going to talk about the global issues the important challenges because migration is a global issue I don't mind to say to you but we don't talk much about it until it gets to Europe we see the same thing with Ebola Ebola is happening in West African countries affecting people but it did not get much attention in spite when we were shouting we didn't get the the sound waves until it gets to USA so I hope you know the vulnerability and the need of these special group of people can get the attention they deserve in the global discourse so I'll come to Australia you are absolutely correct the importance of data but I don't mind to tell you in so many countries in the big town well I talk about vital registration we don't even know how many women and children and men are in the country if I tell you if I tell you less than 68 countries in the world I have 194 countries only 68 of them even have birth and death registrations so how do we build an evidence base and I fully agree with Australia the importance of the evidence base and the data begin as what many of you talk about registration not just your population but also including the vulnerable populations understanding their health profile without that data data drive policy and data drive priorities in order for the government to invest in the right priorities you do need data now Libya your question is to Finland Venezuela excellent comments about coordination and coherent policies every flora I go to in health in migration in nutrition everyone is talking about the importance of multi-sectoral cooperation the whole of government approach but my question to you is do you think your ministries are fully aligned this is a challenge our common challenge the UN also we have our problems I can speak to that but also in the government because your minister of health come to the big toe and then your minister of finance go to the banks and your minister of agriculture to the FAO and the list is long are they singing from the same song sheets I have to say to you in some countries is better than the others so you know who you are now your comment about local authority is spot on no health system resilience can happen without engagement of the community especially the importance of primary health care you need to mobilize the woman the man and the girls in the community to provide advice and care that they are part of the a solution and we only can get to the bottom of Ebola is because the three countries after the very slow start and the denial and the resistance at the beginning eventually mobilize the community to find their own solutions so that is a big lesson for all of us to learn now Japan thank you for again mentioning the importance of preparedness beforehand exactly spot on as part of the health system strengthening I will make sure that your next G7 leadership together with Germany you have pledged to support many countries in building strong health system making sure that everyone is being covered under universal coverage and that nobody is left behind that is part and parcel of the solidarity theme that we talk about we have a crisis of solidarity and let me quote the director general from Senko and I'm sure with the courage and the commitment and the conviction of the leaders and the community we will get there thank you thank you very much I was a specific question to Mr. Karamo with regard to the question presented by distinguished representative of Libya I would like to emphasize that Finland is a small country so it is very very seldom that we work directly bilaterally with countries in region therefore we have chosen to support and cooperate with IOM in this particular process which is promoting health and well-being amongst migrants transiting through Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen which is IOM the great people that director general mentioned already earlier who are actually in the field and we provide support to that kind of project my delegation is very close to you so we can provide perhaps further information on this particular project thank you very much sorry your excellencies colleagues thank you very much let's give a round of applause to our panelists thank you very much