MIGRANT WORKERS HEALTH RESEARCH NETWORK (MIGWHEALTH)

Round Table Discussion (RTD) Forum Series and Congress 2021

Migrant-Refugee Health Research (MigWHealth) network was previously established by MSU during the 1st round table discussion among NGO, industry, higher education institutions, and civil society organisations together with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the International Labour Office (ILO) as invited participants in 2017. Factors affecting the health of migrants in Malaysia were discussed and a short resolution was written on the event page followed by a series of small meetings and discussions among researchers and members from various backgrounds leading up to the MigWHealth Congress in 2018 which saw the participation of IFRC, CSOs, and the department of occupational safety and health, Malaysia as invited speakers to name a few. The event was officiated by MSU founder and President Prof. Tan Sri Dato’ Wira Dr. Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid. All events were supported by Yayasan MSU and MSUMC.

The MigWHealth Forum Series scheduled through September and November 2021 in line with the UN International Day of Peace month, this event seeks to uncover the gaps in healthcare concerns plaguing migrants and refugees in the country especially during the onset of Covid-19 pandemic and thereafter. Discussions shall ensue with questions by lighting talks by invitation and shall eventually lead to the congress on 15 December 2021 – MigWHealth 2021 in line with the UN International Day for Migrants. All stakeholders, researchers and academics are invited to join this event. Please register at https://bit.ly/MIGWHEALTH2021

Contiguously this Forum Series leads on from preceding events like small group discussions on

1. IT advances in healthcare awareness and knowledge of the migrant communities among researchers of Faculty of Information Science and Engineering MSU and North South Initiative (the partner NGO we have and MOU);
2. Stress and work hours among migrants and local workers from research management centre and postgraduate research students;
3. Occupational safety and health eye health concerns among workers in the construction sector by the MSU Centre of Excellence for Eye and Vision (iCARE) researchers;
4. Cultural communication as the main barrier of information transfer between communities of differing cultures and backgrounds by the Faculty of Business, Management and Professional Studies MSU; and
5. Migrants as a marginalised community feedback from focus group discussions (FGD) and should be an inclusive community just as citizens of the world according to Islamic Shariah deserving of equal health rights by our Visiting Professor from partners and Prof. Tan Sri Dato’ Wira Dr. Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid himself.

The follow through from the National Preparatory Meet for the 9th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML) in 2016 propelled the initial steering team formed from a collaboration between academia and the private sector into a more action based research combining our knowledge in health sciences and policies on migrant workers to draft a working research team into clusters. The outcome of our research activities were presented in conferences and internal symposiums where the team saw that the way forward to promote migrant worker health is through collaboration and multidisciplinary approach.

Funding was scarce but seed funds from Yayasan MSU assisted the effort. The MigWHealth team was conceptualised to promote multidisciplinary collaborative research, to ensure ethical and responsible data collection, to source credible research findings for the benefit the marginalised and bottom 40% of society. These programmes are made to respond to the needs of academic researchers to work together with related government and non-governmental organisations in order to be relevant in its research for migrant workers and refugee health under the key areas relating to:

1. Health Management and Health at Work
   1.1. Wellness & Quality of Life
   1.2. Mental Health
   1.3. Communicable Diseases and Non-Communicable Diseases
   1.4. Maternal Health
2. Health Education Accessibility
   2.1. Awareness
   2.2. Communication
   2.3. Refugees and children
   2.4. Cross-cultural issues

The gap in migrant worker’s health research data of South East Asia is only 6% in the world as on 2018 and has not increased significantly since. It is an opportunity for researchers to contribute to the academic needs of researches through publications and translational interventions in health. Intervention activities for migrant workers and refugees have sparsely been reported by national Higher Educational Institutions with fragmented and anecdotal reports by the non-governmental organisations or civil society organisations. With this, it is timely that this network garners collaboration to generate translational research activities through this round table forum series and congress with the outcomes stated above and the provision of tangible academic materials and publications therein.

Objectives:
To increase research collaboration cross sectorial in line with the bottom 40% of society.

To gather researchers in a network which will become a reference for research outcomes and translational activities that benefit this thematic research activity.

To build awareness of the research areas and capacity building for research students to be engaged in relevant research opportunities of the network themes.

Important Dates:

Virtual Series: 4pm – 6pm

1. 27 September 2021 (Research network)
2. 18 October 2021 (Open invite)
3. 29 November 2021 (Open invite)

Congress: 8am – 6pm

1. 15 December 2021 (Open invite)