Migrant health is a critical public health issue, and in many countries attention to this topic has focused on the link between migration and communicable diseases, including tuberculosis (TB). When creating public health policies to address the complex challenges posed by TB and migration, countries should focus these policies on evidence, ethics, and human rights. This paper traces a commonly used migration route from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe, identifying situations at each stage in which human rights and ethical values might be affected in relation to TB care. This illustration provides the basis for discussing TB and migration from the perspective of human rights, with a focus on the right to health. We then highlight three strands of discussion in the ethics and justice literature in an effort to develop more comprehensive ethics of migrant health. These strands include theories of global justice and global health ethics, the creation of 'firewalls' to separate enforcement of immigration law from protection of human rights, and the importance of non-stigmatization to health justice. The paper closes by reflecting briefly on how TB programs can better incorporate human rights and ethical principles and values into public health practice. © 2017 The Union.

Migration Stigma discrimination Communicable disease global health justice

Vulnerable Populations vulnerable population social justice Africa south of the Sahara refugee health care policy demography Europe human ethics priority journal migrant health organization human rights Humans migrant racism non government organization latent tuberculosis tuberculosis Social Stigma Article organization and management communicable disease migration global health Health Policy Transients and Migrants Delivery of Health Care law enforcement public health health care delivery