The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is among the areas of the world with the largest number of protracted regional conflicts. Consequently, it is home to numerous highly complex migration flows. In 2019, for example, 46 million international migrants were recorded in the region, including a large number of internally displaced people and the world’s largest population of forced migrants.
The region is also characterised by major health inequalities, such as disparities in access to and quality of health care, as well as differences in the incidence, prevalence and mortality of various diseases.
The recent push to ensure that all migrants are included in the COVID-19 vaccination strategy has shone a spotlight on the plight of these populations, which are often excluded and marginalised from health systems. More importantly, they are often overlooked by data collection systems.
