Comprehensive new immigrant health guideline series launching in CMAJ
OTTAWA: June 7, 2010
CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) is publishing a ground-breaking series of comprehensive new guidelines on immigrant health beginning June 7, 2010. The Canadian Immigrant Health Guidelines, a multi-part series, will assist clinicians, policy makers and immigrant communities in understanding the diverse needs of immigrants to Canada. Few resources like this exist in the international literature.
While most immigrants and refugees to Canada arrive in good health, some groups face health inequities because of preventable diseases, genetics, social and cultural influences and lack of access to medical treatment. “Immigrant specific, evidence-based clinical guidelines have been lacking in the medical literature, and these guidelines are a significant addition to the world literature on migration medicine,” writes Dr. Patricia Walker, HealthPartners Center for International Health and the University of Minnesota, in a commentary about the guidelines: “These are the first guidelines tailored specifically to immigrants and refugees.”
Canada welcomes approximately 250,000 immigrants and refugees every year as well as about 250,000 migrant workers annually who, while not targeted directly, could benefit from the guidelines. Worldwide, there are more than 200 million international migrants. “In general, new immigrants are healthier than the Canadian population due to immigrant selection policies and socio-cultural aspects of diet and health behaviours; but there is a decline in this “healthy immigrant effect” over time after arrival,” writes guideline lead author Dr. Kevin Pottie, University of Ottawa with coauthors.
Created by the Canadian Collaboration for Immigrant and Refugee Health, a coalition of physicians and other health practitioners, researchers, and immigrant health brokers from across the country, the guidelines are ground-breaking because of the depth of content and information. The researchers focused particularly on refugees, women, children as well as the effects of mental illness.
The guidelines cover broad topics such as women’s health, including contraception, pregnancy and cervical cancer screening; mental health, infectious diseases such as hepatitis B, HIV, tuberculosis, anemia, chronic disease, oral and vision health. Additional guidelines are on their way and the evidence reviews behind each recommendation will be published as part of the comprehensive CMAJ series. CCIRH provides clinical recommendations and clinical considerations to help practitioners improve care for immigrant and refugee patients.
In her commentary, Dr. Walker concludes “the new Canadian Immigrant Health Guidelines are relevant to all providers, as we practice patient-centred care in the global village. The long term goal of guidelines is to reduce health disparities, and the new Canadian guidelines should be rigorously implemented to help achieve this goal.”