Migration, mobility and health in Southern Africa

Description & Objectives

This course provides a critical introduction to the health and psychosocial consequences of migration. The primary purpose of the course is to examine the intersections of humanitarianism, vulnerability and displacement from a health perspective. In order to do this, the course will introduce fundamental concepts and analytical tools to understand the interaction between health, disease and illness in social contexts. It will investigate the differential impacts of integrated public health responses on migrants with respect to ethnicity, gender, age and legal status.

Case studies will be provided of a number of common interventions with migrant populations including HIV/AIDS interventions (particularly access to services and treatment), psychological and psychosocial interventions and the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation and immunization.

Throughout the course, the focus is on the complexity and politics of humanitarianism and the assumptions that underpin such interventions.