According to a recently concluded report from the Health Protection Agency’s (HPA), 70% of TB, HIV and malaria suffers in the UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) are made up of immigrants. These are UK residents that were born outside the country.
The report also indicates that around 60 percent of newly diagnosed cases of HIV, and 80 percent of hepatitis B infected British blood donors were born outside the UK.
According to the recommendations from HPA, foreign-born UK residents should be given access to culturally competent and language supported services.
Health risks to UK residents born outside the country can endure for a number of years after arriving and living in the UK. For instance, about 77% of the TB cases that were diagnosed in 2010 were among residents that have lived in the UK for two years and longer.
Around 50% of foreign-born UK men who had sex with men with a newly diagnosed HIV infection between 2001 and 2010 had possibly acquired their infection within the UK.
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Immigrants have a higher probability of carrying these infections because these diseases are common in the countries where they are originally from. She said the immigrants had either been infected before coming to the UK or they became infected while they were on visits to their home country. The latter are the main risk group for some travel-associated infections diagnosed in the UK such as malaria and enteric fever.
Immigrants have a higher probability of carrying these infections because these diseases are common in the countries where they are originally from. She said the immigrants had either been infected before coming to the UK or they became infected while they were on visits to their home country. The latter are the main risk group for some travel-associated infections diagnosed in the UK such as malaria and enteric fever.
Where information was available 61 per cent of malaria cases reported in the UK in 2010 and 87 per cent of enteric fever cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were in foreign-born UK residents who travelled abroad to visit friends and relatives. Both of these diseases can be prevented through pre-travel advice and be taking appropriate prophylactic measures.
According to Dr Jane Jones, Consultant Epidemiologist and Head of the Travel and Migrant Health Section at the HPA, “The majority of non-UK born residents do not have infectious diseases but some are at higher risk than the UK born residents because of their exposures and their life experiences prior to, during and after migration.
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“Timely identification of risk and diagnosis of infection can improve health outcomes. Primary care practitioners in particular play a vital role in identifying people at risk and ensuring appropriate management, and it is important to remember that risk to non-UK born residents does not end on arrival in the UK.”
It also recommends a co-ordinated approach to assess newly migrated patient’s health needs, including improving the collection of country of birth information as this is an indicator of possible risk.
Dr. Jones added: “By supporting UK practitioners to recognise and appropriately manage the health needs of non-UK born people, the HPA aims to contribute to the reduction of the burden of infectious disease in the populations that are at highest risk.”
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