(un)Healthy movement in southern Africa: towards improved responses to communicable diseases. (360G-Wellcome-104868_Z_14_Z)

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is associated with both high rates of population mobility and high prevalence of communicable diseases - notably HIV and tuberculosis (TB). Migration and areas characterised by high levels of mobility pose particular challenges for the prevention and treatment of communicable diseases. Migrant populations may also face challenges such as poverty, high rates of gender based violence, and a lack of access to services - including healthcare and justice. These are all contributing factors to various forms of vulnerability, including to ill health. So far appropriate responses that consider cross-border systems and factors which create vulnerability are absent, and responses to ensure treatment continuity and harmonisation of treatment protocols are lacking or are insufficient. In addition, while public health responses are necessary to deal with the transnational nature of communicable disease transmission and treatment, these re sponses are deeply embedded in both regional and national politics around migration. However, the intersections between the regional and local politics of migrant health are rarely explored. This analysis is critical for understanding how regional processes shape migrant marginality, but also how local case-studies can inform national and regional policy. This research project aims to map out and evaluate these inter-connections and to understand how they shape clinical practice and migrant wel l-being and marginality on the ground.