The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (Research Promotion and Development; Health Systems in Emergencies Lab), the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), in collaboration with the WHO Global Programme on Health and Migration, announced a call for applications for migration health research in February 2020. This call supported generation of related evidence on migrant health needs, concerns and situations, especially implementation research of current programmes or activities focused on the needs of migrant populations or other approaches.
After a competitive review process based on scientific merit and the public health impact of the project proposals, the following proposals from Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan and Syria were selected for funding.
Table 1. Details of funded projects by country, title of project, and principal investigator
Country |
Institution |
Title of the project |
PI |
Egypt |
High Institute of Public Health |
A primary survey of some communicable and non-communicable infections of public health importance among Syrian migrants in Egypt |
Engy El-Ghitany |
Sudan |
Institute of Endemic Disease- University of Khartoum |
Current influx of Ethiopian migrants and refugees in eastern Sudan: rapid health assessment and challenges to access health care |
Abdalla Hassan Sharief |
Palestine |
National Institute for Environment and Development |
Crisis and its impact on delivery of essential health services in the southern Governorates |
Khaled Abu Ali |
Syria |
United Nations Relief & Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East |
COVID-19 vaccine attitudes among Palestine refugees in Syria |
Neil Saad |
Islamic Republic of Iran |
Teheran University of Medical Sciences |
The situation analysis of migrants and refugees who live in Tehran and providing an evidence-based solutions to prepare health care services for them |
Abbas Ostad Taghi Zadeh |
Lebanon |
AUB/Observatory of Public Policies & Health |
Access of Syrian refugees to COVID-19 testing in Lebanon |
Sanaa Khardaqii |
Islamic Republic of Iran |
Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences |
Exploring the challenges of Kurdish migrant workers during the covid-19 pandemic |
Tahereh Pashaei |
Pakistan |
Shalamar Medical & Dental College, Lahore |
Knowledge, attitude, practice towards COVID-19 infection of Afghan refugees living in city of Lahore, Pakistan |
Farkhanda Ghafoor |
Morocco |
Hassan First University of Settat |
Diseases burden among immigrants in Morocco: a cross‑sectional study |
Touria Essayagh |
Lebanon |
St Joseph Univeristy |
COVID-19 vaccination preparedness to outreach both local and migrant elderly subjects: the one-thousand population-based survey |
Rafic Baddoura |
Morocco |
UNFPA: United Nations Population Fund |
Evaluating the impact of violence against women and girl migrants on the sexual and reproductive health and rights, in Morocco |
Luis Mora |
Jordan |
Jordanian Anti-Tuberculosis Association |
Extent of under-notification of tuberculosis cases among migrants in the health system in Jordan during the period from May-October 2021 |
Nadia Abu Sabrah |
Oman |
Khoula Hospital, Ministry of Health |
Vaccine hesitancy in COVID-19 pandemic among migrants: a nationwide web-based survey in Oman |
Ammar Al-Kashmiri |
Islamic Republic of Iran |
Teheran University of Medical Sciences |
Developing a model for sustainable healthcare financing for documented Afghan refugees along the pathway towards UHC in Iran |
Amirhossein Takian |