Dangerous crossing: demographic and clinical features of rescued sea migrants seen in 2014 at an outpatient clinic at Augusta Harbor, Italy

Descriptive study of sea migrants at the port clinic in Augusta Harbor

Abstract

In recent years Europe has received an increasing influx of migrants, many of whom risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea. In October 2013, Italy launched a search and rescue operation at sea in response to migrant deaths during the sea crossing. In August 2014, Médecins sans Frontières and the local Ministry of Health established an outpatient clinic at Augusta harbor, in Sicily, which received 26 % of total sea migrants arrived in Italy in 2014, to provide immediate medical assessment and care.

This is a descriptive study of demographic and clinical data of sea migrants seen at the port clinic in Augusta from August to December 2014. The authors compared migrants from Near Eastern, war-torn regions and the others, mostly African, as there were significant differences in terms of demographic and morbidity profiles

This research was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s Operational Research Capacity Building Programme led by the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union)

Citation

Trovato A, Reid A, Takarinda KC, Montaldo C, Decroo T, Owiti P, Bongiorno F, Di Carlo S. Dangerous crossing: demographic and clinical features of rescued sea migrants seen in 2014 at an outpatient clinic at Augusta Harbor, Italy. (2016) Conflict and Health. 10:14. doi: 10.1186/s13031-016-0080-y.

Dangerous crossing: demographic and clinical features of rescued sea migrants seen in 2014 at an outpatient clinic at Augusta Harbor, Italy

Updates to this page

Published 15 June 2016