Interview: asylum seekers’ reception camp

In the video Dr. Alexa Matuschek has talked about various health problems of the refugees she is seeing during her shifts at the reception camp.

A high number of refugees have arrived in the last few days. Many of them have not had a chance to see a medical doctor during their journey and the queue of men and women who wish to see a doctor on Thursdays when Dr Matuschek is available, is very long. They mainly come with injuries, infections and signs of mental distress. After working at the reception camp for an afternoon, Sarah feels quite exhausted.

In general, the health of refugees may not necessarily be worse than that of the host population. There is the so called “healthy migrant effect”, meaning that the majority of migrants have a better health status than many in the host population because of younger age and better physical fitness.

However, studies show that many formerly healthy migrants experience deteriorating health status after some time. Factors like poor living conditions with low level of hygiene and substandard housing, overcrowding, high barriers to access to health care and an adoption of unhealthy habits like an unhealthy diet, smoking, and less physical activity can be important threats to the health of migrants.