International immigrant health access and vulnerabilities in the context of COVID-19 dissemination: a collaborative inter-institutional network research

Abstract

The progression of the pandemic of COVID-19 led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare an international emergency in January 2020. In mid-March of the same year, Brazil, following the example of several countries worldwide, adopted social isolation and restricted mobility to prevent and combat the contagion and spread of the virus in the country. This effort, however, has been adopted contingently until now. Such a situation has generated several disputes between different groups in society and multiple reactions from public institutions. Considering the profound social and territorial inequalities existing in Brazil, the consequences of the pandemic are more severe and exacerbated due to critical situations of social vulnerability that intensely harm the most impoverished populations, including international migrants, exposing them to different types of risks and threats. This research seeks to investigate how confinement and the subsequent health crisis impacted the lives of migrants in terms of health care access and their vulnerability, aggravated by the pandemic. Qualitative research will be conducted from interviews with key informants and migrants. The fieldwork relies on network research, which articulates researchers and interlocutors of various States, such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso, Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais, and Amazonas. And also from abroad; Argentina, Spain, Portugal and the United States. The aim is to identify the problems related to the health access and social protection of international migrants and refugees, regarding the needs of this population in the pandemic of COVID-19. Therefore, this research can contribute to identifying the problems experienced by these people and provide a map of the social and health needs observed among immigrants, enabling the formulation of subsidies for public policies that aim to eliminate inequalities in access to services. (AU)