National Health Policy for migrant workers

Rasika SOMARATHNA

The government is set to unveil a National Health Policy for migrants on Monday with the intention of securing quality and equitable health services for Sri Lankan migrant workers and their families.

This would be introduced to coincide with the International Migrants Day, which falls on Sunday.

Foreign Employment Promotions and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera said that the initiative will be carried out in partnership with the Health Ministry and the International Organisation for Migration.

“We are looking to address both mental and physical health requirements of the migrant workers through this programme. Not only the worker but their family members too would be integrated to this. It has wide benefits for both migrant workers and their families”, the minister said.

The collaborative effort would help to promote migrant-sensitive health policies, ensure equitable access to health promotion and to urge information sharing and best practices for meeting the health needs of migrants, the minister added.

The health policy would propose special health services for migrants and their families, insurance schemes, counselling services etc. Also health needs of migrants while working abroad too are to be looked at,’ he added.

In addition, from January onwards the Ministry is planning to initiate a concept called ‘family week’ for migrants and their families.

The initiative is aimed at providing counselling for migrant workers, their immediate family members prior to migration and during post-migration. Under the initiative the migrants and their family members are to be supported through counselling to face numerous sensitive family issues they face due to migration abroad for work.‘Also authorities would introduce a national migration profile shortly. “We would mainstream labour migration into all national policies by including key migration variables into data collection , ensuring a proper use of data in the national surveys, including those used in national housing, health, labour, gender, education and migration statistics”, Minister Perera said.

Work has already started to prepare a National Migration Profile, which is to be published in early 2012. This migration profile would be a comprehensive data and information tool for evidence based policy making on migration and development.

‘Towards this objective, the Ministry has evolved a novel concept of country specific, company specific and job specific training to gain a strategic advantage over the others. Pursuant to this objective, the entering into bilateral agreement on Labour Migration with other government’s is pursued.