Migrants 'carry disease burden'

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6150610.stm

Migrants make up about 70% of TB, HIV and malaria cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a report has found.

The Health Protection Agency said this was a "disproportionate burden", but stressed it reflected a small fraction of people not born in the UK.

In its first report on migrant health, it also found there was little evidence to suggest the general population was being placed at increased risk.

The Department of Health said the report would be a "valuable tool".

Recent government figures estimated about 1,500 migrants arrived every day to live in the UK in 2005.

In 2001, the report said, 7.53% of people living in the British Isles were migrants, the majority coming from Europe, South Asia and Africa.

Dr Jane Jones, of the Health Protection Agency, said: "The majority of TB, HIV and malaria cases were found in people not born in the UK."

But she added: "This must be seen in context: most migrants do not have these diseases."

She said the reason migrants were more likely to carry these diseases was because they came from parts of the world where the infections were more common, and had either been infected before they came to the UK, or infected on visits to their country of origin.

Recommendations

The HPA report added the migrants may have also contracted diseases after they had arrived in the UK, because of close contact with other migrants or travel.

But it said evidence revealed the general UK population was not at increased risk of TB, HIV or malaria infection from migrants, but some UK-born ethnic communities did have a higher risk of disease because of their links to countries where the diseases were endemic.

The HPA has put forward a range of recommendations to improve migrant health, including increased diseases surveillance, primary care support, such as language and cultural support, and raising awareness.

But Professor Pat Troop, chief executive of the HPA, said the agency was waiting for more evidence to see if screening of migrants on arrival would be an effective measure.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The data in this report will be a valuable tool for NHS Trusts in planning their services to meet the needs of different migrant groups."

Reminds me of Germany in the 1930's-1940's when jews were blamed to carry all sorts of diseases.

Mind you, my brother is a Social worker and was working with a refugee, a Kurd I think and warned him to see a doctor cos he was coughing all the time.

Next thing my bro is coughing all the time.

Very next thing the Kurd is diagnosed with TB. Bro sees doc and he has chest infection. There was some TB connection but not actually full TB cos bro is quite strong and fit there's no problem.

This story must be true cos I can't even get the facts right, I'm sure he told me more details but reading back it sounds like a really bad story!....

My sympathies to your brother.

That immigrants carry diseases - and higher incidences of some diseases than in the UK - is one of those obvious things that statisticians spend a great deal of time and resources ascertaining.

But the occasional immigrant who has a clean bill of health need not feel left out. There is plenty he can acquire here which he likely won't back home - like heart disease, gallstones, diverticulitis, appendicitis, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, hiatus hernia, colon cancer, breast cancer, and diabetes mellitus (all show much higher rates in the west). And that's only the non-contagious ones. Depending on where he comes from he likely also has here a wider choice of STDs and easier ways of acquiring them.

OK, if he brings a disease into the UK and spreads it the UK's NHS has to er, cough up. But then if he takes a disease back home at the end of his stay his local health service foots the bill. I would have said that the scales were about balanced if it wasn't for the fact that the UK can afford (and implements) a lot more stringent health screening for immigrants than can be afforded for returning citizens in some parts of the world.