WHO/Europe together with its long-term partner the Italian National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (INMP) will host the 5th Meeting of WHO Collaborating Centres for Migration and Health in late November in Rome, Italy. Participants will include representatives of WHO collaborating centres, other key academic partners and experts from WHO/Europe.
Building on the High-level Meeting on Health and Migration in the WHO European Region, which took place in March 2022 in Istanbul, Türkiye, representatives of the WHO regional offices for Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean will be invited for the first time to join WHO/Europe to implement a whole-of-route approach to refugee and migrant health.
The meeting will provide a platform to:
• present the latest work on refugee and migrant health across the 3 regions;
• establish synergies in ongoing and planned work to address priority action areas for refugee and migrant health; and
• form new tri-regional networks and collaborations.
Collaborating to ensure the scientific validity of WHO’s work
Designated by the WHO Director-General, WHO collaborating centres are institutions such as divisions of national research institutes; departments of universities, laboratories, hospitals and health ministries; or national institutions such as academies. Through close collaboration with these centres, WHO ensures the scientific validity of its work.
WHO/Europe currently cooperates with 3 collaborating centres on migration and health in the Region:
• the WHO Collaborating Centre on Health and Migration Evidence and Capacity Building at the INMP, Italy;
• the WHO Collaborating Centre on Migration and Health Data and Evidence at Uppsala University, Sweden; and
• the WHO Collaborating Centre for Migrant’s Involvement in Health Research at the University of Limerick, Ireland.
WHO/Europe also continues to work closely with key academic partners from 9 different academic institutions within the Region. To support these partnerships, WHO/Europe holds a meeting for its collaborating centres for migration and health and key academic partners twice a year.