A Health Podyssey

Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Ietza Bojorquez-Chapela and Cesar Infante on how Mexico's response to COVID-19 took into account the needs of in-transit migrants and asylum seekers.

Show Notes

Migrants on their way to another country and people seeking asylum are often overlooked in health policy. During the COVID-19 pandemic as immigration and asylum processes stalled, thousands of people were stranded at Mexico's northern border. With limited health care and sometimes crowded and unsanitary living conditions, COVID posed a significant risk.

How Mexico's response to COVID-19 took into account the particular needs of in-transit migrants and asylum seekers is the topic of today's episode of A Health Podyssey.

Ietza Bojorquez-Chapela from the College of the Northern Border and Cesar Infante from the National Institute of Public Health join Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil to discuss their research they and co-authors published in the July 2021 issue of Health Affairs, an issue dedicated to borders, immigrants, and health.

In the issue, the authors examine COVID-19 health policy documents issued by Mexican federal, state, and municipal authorities. Exploring these documents — which were prepared between January and September of 2020 —they found that only seven out of 80 publicly available documents explicitly mentioned the health care needs of in-transit migrants and asylum seekers.

Order your copy of the July 2021 issue of Health Affairs.

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What is A Health Podyssey?

Each week, Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil brings you in-depth conversations with leading researchers and influencers shaping the big ideas in health policy and the health care industry.

A Health Podyssey goes beyond the pages of the health policy journal Health Affairs to tell stories behind the research and share policy implications. Learn how academics and economists frame their research questions and journey to the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Health policy nerds rejoice! This podcast is for you.