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Naranjo L, Williams Y, Levy J, Obando R, González JA, Pachar M, Chen R, Franco-Paredes C, Higuita NA, Henao-Martínez A, Diaz Y, Suárez JA. The Endless Vulnerability of Migrant Children In-Transit across the Darién Gap. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2023; 109:515-519. [PMID: 37487560 PMCID: PMC10484268 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Many people from poverty-stricken countries are migrating across South and Central America to reach the México-United States border, a movement exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Migrant people who begin their northbound journey in South America must transit across a significant geographic bottleneck, the Darién Gap, a mountainous rainforest region between Colombia and Panama. Most migrant people crossing this region originate from Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela. Other people reach the shores of South American countries from west and central Africa or central and southeastern Asia and continue to the Darién Gap. Poverty and violence drive families with children to flee their homes and endure incalculable risks in their path. Children traveling with their families or as unaccompanied minors across the Darién Gap are exposed to life-threatening situations and human rights violations, including abuse, exploitation, malnourishment, and limited access to medical care. In addition to experiencing untreated medical illnesses, children experience mental health disorders during migration and after they reach their destination as a result of victimization and adverse traumatic experiences. Therefore, providing migrants, especially children, with rapid medical screenings and mental health support when they arrive at their destination is critical to reduce health inequities. Furthermore, making these interventions available during their transit and ensuring their safety may prevent further human rights abuses in children and families. Latin American governments must address the ongoing humanitarian crisis endured by migrants throughout their migratory path by offering access to essential healthcare services and safeguarding the rights and security of children and vulnerable groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Naranjo
- GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines CARICAM, Panama City, Republic of Panama
- Sistema Nacional de Investigación, SNI-Senacyt, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Yesenia Williams
- Hospital de Niños José Renán Esquivel, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Jacqueline Levy
- Hospital de Niños José Renán Esquivel, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Rosela Obando
- Caja del Seguro Social, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - José A. González
- Hospital Irma De Lourdes Tzanetato, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Mónica Pachar
- Hospital Santo Tomás, Panama City, Republic of Panama
- Hospital Oncológico, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Roderick Chen
- Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Carlos Franco-Paredes
- Hospital Infantil de México, Federico Gómez, Mexico DF, Mexico
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Nelson Agudelo Higuita
- Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
| | - Andrés Henao-Martínez
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado
| | - Yamilka Diaz
- Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - José A. Suárez
- Sistema Nacional de Investigación, SNI-Senacyt, Panama City, Republic of Panama
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad de Panama, Panama City, Republic of Panama
- Facultad de Ciencias de la salud, Uisek, Ecuador
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Agudelo-Higuita N, Suarez JA, Millender E, Garcia-Creighton E, Corbisiero MF, Freites CO, Cordero JH, Kousari A, Unterborn R, Marcos LA, Henao-Martinez AF, Jhangimal M, Pon AY, Tuells J, Diaz EG, Franco-Paredes C, Erausquin JT, Pinzon-Espinoza J, Baird M, Pachar M, Ordaz M, Cabezas-Talavero G, Katz J, Gonzalez JA, Obando R, Rodriguez F, Naranjo L, Madrid A, Pecchio I, Vistica G, Nakad C, Reina A, Diaz Y, Cheng R, Meng M, Alvarado YW, Baranyi S, Sanchez J, Rincὁn T, Viquez D, Owen D, Pascale JM, Gabster A. U.S. bound journey of migrant peoples InTransit across Dante's Inferno and Purgatory in the Americas. Travel Med Infect Dis 2022; 47:102317. [PMID: 35342009 DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2022.102317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Rapid rise of population migration is a defining feature of the 21st century due to the impact of climate change, political instability, and socioeconomic downturn. Over the last decade, an increasing number of migrant peoples travel across the Americas to reach the United States seeking asylum or cross the border undocumented in search of economic opportunities. In this journey, migrant people experience violations of their human rights, hunger, illness, violence and have limited access to medical care. In the 'Divine Comedy', the Italian poet Dante Alighieri depicts his allegorical pilgrimage across Hell and Purgatory to reach Paradise. More than 700 years after its publication, Dante's poem speaks to the present time and the perilious journey of migrant peoples to reach safehavens. By exploring the depths and heights of the human condition, Dante's struggles resonate with the multiple barriers and the unfathomable experiences faced by migrant peoples in transit across South, Central, and North America to reach the United States. Ensuring the safety of migrant peoples across the Americas and elsewhere, and attending to their health needs during their migratory paths represent modern priorities to reduce social injustices and achieving health equity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nelson Agudelo-Higuita
- Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, USA
| | - Jose Antonio Suarez
- Investigador SNI Senacyt Panamá, Clinical Research Department, Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
| | - Eugenia Millender
- Center of Population Sciences for Health Equity, USA; College of Nursing, Florida State Univ, USA; College of Social Work, Dept of Behavioral Science and Social Medicine, College of Medicine, Florida State University, USA
| | | | | | - Christian Olivo Freites
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, California, USA
| | - Jose Henao Cordero
- Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Arianna Kousari
- Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Rebecca Unterborn
- Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Luis A Marcos
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stony Brook University, New York, USA
| | - Andres F Henao-Martinez
- Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Monica Jhangimal
- Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
| | - Anyi Yu Pon
- Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
| | - Jose Tuells
- Department of Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine and Public Health and History of Science, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, 03690, Alicante, Spain
| | | | - Carlos Franco-Paredes
- Investigador SNI Senacyt Panamá, Clinical Research Department, Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama; Hospital Infantil de México, Federico Gómez, México City, Mexico.
| | | | - Justo Pinzon-Espinoza
- Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA; Department of Mental Health, Parc Tauli, University Hospital, Sabadell Barcelona, Spain; Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinica Psychiatry, University of Panama, Republic of Panama
| | | | - Monica Pachar
- Hospital Santo Tomas, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Michelle Ordaz
- Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
| | | | - Jennifer Katz
- Community Development Network of the Americas, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | | | - Rosela Obando
- Hospital de Especialidades Pediátricas, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Fatima Rodriguez
- Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
| | - Laura Naranjo
- GlaxoSmithKline Vacccines CARICAM, Investigador I SNI-Senacyt Panamá, Republic of Panama
| | - Alexandra Madrid
- Universidad de Panama, Centro Regional Universitario de Veraguas, Facultad de Farmacia, Republic of Panama
| | - Itabe Pecchio
- Universidad de Panama, Centro Regional Universitario de Veraguas, Facultad de Farmacia, Republic of Panama
| | - Grace Vistica
- University of Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of International Health and Sustainable Development New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Candy Nakad
- Instituto de Medicina Tropical, Laboratorio de Protozoarios de Biología Molecular, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela
| | - Adelys Reina
- Departmento de Investigación en Virología y Biotecnología, Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
| | - Yamilka Diaz
- Departmento de Investigación en Virología y Biotecnología, Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
| | - Roderick Cheng
- Ministerio de Salud de Panamá, Dirección Nacional de Dispositivos Médicos, Republic of Panama
| | - Michael Meng
- Ministerio de Salud de Panamá, Dirección Nacional de Dispositivos Médicos, Republic of Panama
| | | | | | - Joanne Sanchez
- Complejo Hospitalario Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid, Panama City, Republic of Panama
| | - Tomas Rincὁn
- Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
| | - Daniel Viquez
- Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
| | | | - Juan Miguel Pascale
- Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
| | - Amanda Gabster
- Investigador SNI Senacyt Panamá, Clinical Research Department, Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Republic of Panama
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