A Europe-wide program called "MyHealth" aims at improving refugees' access to healthcare systems, especially the most vulnerable groups such as women and unaccompanied minors living in Europe since the last five years.
The program is coordinated by the Vall d'Hebron hospital of Barcelona and enjoys 1.5 million euros in funding from the European Commission as part of the healthcare plan of the Chafea European agency. It will run for three years and involve a multidisciplinary network of 11 healthcare bodies from seven 7 EU countries.
MyHealth calls for the development of action strategies to treat the most vulnerable migrants, especially single mothers and unaccompanied minors and to provide healthcare assistance in the case of infectious diseases, chronic illnesses and mental health.
In Spain, a decree issued by the conservative government under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in 2012 limited access to the healthcare system for irregular migrants. The Catalan regional government is drawing up its own plan to ensure universal healthcare for the autonomous area, but it will take a considerable amount of time to be passed and come into force.
Meanwhile, the Vall d'Hebron hospital has become the coordinator of the MyHealth program to resolve the most serious problems concerning access to public healthcare for social groups most at risk. After drawing up a map of currently available services and deciding on intervention strategies, pilot projects will be launched in three hospitals in Germany, the Czech Republic and Barcelona.