The Global Health Education Program (G-HEP) held its sixth lecture of the Global Health Academy on July 14th, welcoming the Deputy-Director General of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Dr. Reiko Hayashi. Dr. Hayashi has conducted both national and international research on health and population, urbanization and population migration, and population and development. The lecture focused on the theme Migrant Health.

Dr. Hayashi began by explaining the concept and definitions of migrants and refugees. She then introduced trends relating to migration throughout the world. She also discussed developments in reducing disparities associated with migration in light of Goal 10 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), Japan, where the number of immigrants is relatively low, has not met Goal 10.7.2, in particular in the areas of migrant’s socio-economic welfare and mobility dimensions of crises. On the other hand, Thailand has a very large number of migrants, especially refugees and stateless people, and has made considerable progress in its migration policies.

In the second half of the session, Dr. Hayashi spoke about various factors affecting the health status of migrants in Japan. One of these factors is access to health care which has been exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic as more and more migrants lack access to care. In addition to the direct impact of the pandemic such as infections and deaths of vulnerable migrants, there are also serious indirect impacts such as unemployment and an overall lack of support.

The next lecture on Policy Recommendations and Advocacy will take place on August 11th.

■ Program Lectures
1) Thailand’s Health System and COVID-19 (complete)
2) Japan’s Health System and COVID-19 (complete)
3) Community Health (complete)
4) Health Technology (complete)
5) Global Health (complete)
6) Migrant Health (complete)
7) Policy Recommendations and Advocacy
8) Quantitative and Qualitative Research

The Global Health Education Program (G-HEP) is a joint program organized by the Health and Global Policy Institute and Mahidol University, Faculty of Public Health in Thailand.

■About Mahidol University
Mahidol University is the number one university in Thailand for medical education and the first public health academic institution in Thailand.

Vision:
 Be a leader in promoting population health through being a health literate faculty in ASEAN countries by 2021.
Mission:
 1. To offer an outcome based public health education through being a health literate faculty.
 2. To be visible as a leader in public health education, integrative and innovative research, professional academic services on the basis of good governance to promote health and longevity and the betterment of mankind.