Table 1 The main activities of the Johannesburg Migrant Health Forum
Key area | Examples of Forum activities |
|---|---|
1. Research, education and dissemination | • Monitoring of public healthcare access challenges using a monitoring tool to capture the experiences of non-nationals. • Production of factsheets on migration and health for journalists and others, answering common questions on migration and health in Johannesburg (Johannesburg Migrant Health Forum, 2015b). • Production and dissemination of educational materials for migrants, healthcare workers and the general public in English and French on the rights of non-nationals to access public healthcare within Gauteng Province (Johannesburg Migrant Health Forum, 2014). These materials are freely available electronically for download, printing and dissemination. • Research presentations at local policy and research conferences (such as the JHB District Health Research Conference, 2014), on the challenges faced by non-nationals reliant on public healthcare. • Participation in mental health workshops for refugee community groups and those that support asylum seekers and refugees (e.g. resource centres police, nurses). These have been led by Lawyers for Human Rights for the United Nations, on addressing the mental health needs of asylum seekers and refugees when accessing services (2014; 2015). |
2. Communication and consultation with government | • Participation in policy consultations such as the national migration and health consultation co-hosted by the IOM and the ACMS, Wits (2010, 2013) and the annual South African AIDS Conference (via a national working group on migration and HIV). • Meetings with the Provincial Department of Health to present data collected by the MHF and research partners on challenges experienced by non-nationals when accessing public healthcare at Provincial Hospitals. Ongoing dialogue to explore possible programmatic solutions (SECTION27, 2015). |
3. Support network and knowledge sharing platform | • Developing support networks between member organisations and migrant individuals or groups to address specific migration and health challenges experienced in the city, including access to legal representation. |