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Health of Displaced Albanian Kosovars in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: Fitness to Travel and Health Outcomes Assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Douglas W. MacPherson ,
Jacqueline E. M. Weekers ,
Thomas F. O'Rourke ,
Cecilia Stiles  and
Brian D. Gushulak
Douglas W. MacPherson
Affiliation:
Office for Public Health Security, Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Population and Public Health Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program, St. Joseph's Hospital and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Jacqueline E. M. Weekers*
Affiliation:
Migration Health Services, International Organization for Migration, Geneva, Switzerland
Thomas F. O'Rourke
Affiliation:
Medical Services, International Organization for Migration, Moscow, Russian Federation
Cecilia Stiles
Affiliation:
MDT Software Inc., Hamilton Ontario Canada
Brian D. Gushulak
Affiliation:
Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program, St. Joseph's Hospital and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Medical Services Branch, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
*
International Organization for Migration, PO Box 71, CH 1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland email: jweekers@iom.int
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Abstract

Introduction:

During the 1999 conflict in Kosovo, an estimated 850,000 people were displaced from Kosovo. Many thousands of these people arrived in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), for whom a humanitarian evacuation programme (HEP) was conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). More than 91,000 people were moved to third countries under this programme.

Methods:

A health assessment tool was designed, validated, and implemented to document the health status of the refugees prior to departure. The IOM evaluated 41,652 pre-travel “fitness to travel” medical assessments for refugees transported by the Organization. A colour coding system for fitness-to-travel was used to clearly identify refugees to the receiving health authorities according to their health condition at the time of departure.

Results:

A total of 41,652 fitness-to-travel assessments were performed between 05 April and 25 June 1999, and were entered into a database. There were 21,923 females and 19,566 males. The average age was 25.3 years (women, 26 years; men, 24.3 years). Of these assessments, 4,647 (11.2%) individuals who were deemed fit-to-travel required medical assessment at the host destination, and of those 1,204 required urgent care. The majority of health complaints were acute respiratory tract infections and hypertension.

Conclusions:

A rapid and efficient system for fitness-to-travel was created to assist in the management of health issues related to the urgent and mass movement of refugees. The collected health information was of use to health-care planners during the crisis and for those responsible for the health-care of newly arrived refugees. The lessons learned have implications for future similar operations and for the development of research and education programs for both the refugees and the host recipient nations.

Keywords

humanitarian evacuationtravelrefugeehealth assessment
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , June 2002 , pp. 53 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2002

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