IOM Egypt has organized a three-day peer educators training on various health issues with the aim of disseminating information to the broader migrant community and referring migrants to relevant public health services.
Attendees included community leaders and community health workers representing four main migrant communities in Egypt: Sudanese, Somali, Ethiopian and Eritrean.
The training covered health topics such as communicable diseases, malnutrition, dehydration, mental health and psychosocial issues, and other issues of concern such as trafficking and smuggling.
“One of the main challenges facing migrants is the lack of sufficient knowledge on health issues and access to proper health care which undermines their health. These can include communicable diseases such as hepatitis and tuberculosis; non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, as well as psychological issues,” explained IOM Egypt’s Dr. Heidi Goubran.
“This training builds the capacity of peer educators to enable them to help migrants, their families and their host communities to achieve better health,” she added.
The training was organized in coordination with Tadamon, the Egyptian Refugee Multicultural Council, the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, and the Public Health Department of Ain Shams University.
It was part of IOM’s regional project: “Promoting health and wellbeing amongst migrants in Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen” funded by Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
