Emergency preparedness and response sensitive of migrant populations in Chile: postpandemic perspectives

Abstract

On the 31st of August 2023, the Government of Chile ended the health alert for COVID-19. This milestone invites us to reflect on lessons learned in emergency preparedness and response that are sensitive to and informed by the experience of migrant populations in the country. In this context, three perspectives are presented. The first focuses on avoiding pointing to individual responsibility for non-compliance with prevention measures, as this approach ignores structural and historical inequities. Emergency recommendations should be constructed considering a collective approach and diverse socio-cultural and political contexts. The second perspective calls for considering and addressing migration as a social determinant of population health in emergency preparedness and response. During the pandemic, changes in the governance of migration around the world made migration processes more precarious, with risks to the physical and mental health of migrants. This needs better planning and evidence-based decision-making in future pandemics. The third perspective focuses on promoting intercultural health, as effective communication of contagion risks and preventive measures were hampered among migrant populations with diverse worldviews and interpretations of health and disease processes. Responding to the needs of historically marginalized communities requires establishing ways of life that respect diversity in narratives and everyday practices. Governments and health systems must incorporate migration into their emergency preparedness and response strategies, creating the conditions for optimal compliance.