Global Public Health
Volume 9, Issue 5, 2014, Pages 579-589

Improving health services for African migrants in China: A health diplomacy perspective (Article)

McLaughlin M.M. , Lee M.C. , Hall B.J. , Bulterys M. , Ling L. , Tucker J.D.
  • a UNC Project-China, Guangzhou, China, Sun Yat-sen Center for Migrant Health Policy, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Province, China
  • b Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
  • c Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
  • d U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Embassy, Beijing, China
  • e Sun Yat-sen Center for Migrant Health Policy, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Province, China
  • f UNC Project-China, Guangzhou, China, UNC Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Abstract

Global health has become an increasingly prominent component of foreign policy in the last decade. The term health diplomacy has been used to describe this growing interface between foreign policy and global health, and it encompasses both the concept of using health to further foreign policy objectives as well as the idea that diplomatic tools can be helpful for attaining public health goals. The Chinese presence in Africa has grown in the last 15 years, generating increased interest in Sino-African relations. While much has been written in recent years about the Chinese presence in Africa, the growing numbers of Africans in China have attracted considerably less attention. Many are small-scale traders and might be expected to face many of the health challenges common among foreign migrants, but their health needs have been largely unrecognised. In this paper, we consider how a health diplomacy approach could be applied to African migrants in China, and the potential advantages and limitations of this strategy. We identify areas of overlap between public health, trade and foreign policy goals that can be emphasised to generate support for improved services for African migrants in China and to engage partners from a diversity of sectors. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

Author Keywords

China Migration Migrants health diplomacy Africa

Index Keywords

Quality Improvement total quality management pathogen load China health diplomacy health care policy mental health human Internationality health service priority journal international cooperation ethnology Health Services Needs and Demand Humans migrant male female Africa Article organization and management health care migration health care need infection Health Policy Transients and Migrants Delivery of Health Care Health Services Accessibility public health health care delivery
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84901691029&doi=10.1080%2f17441692.2014.908935&partnerID=40&md5=17dd19b3425c9610abab765de13e6b30
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2014.908935
ISSN: 17441692
Cited by: 6
Original Language: English