Le politiche per la tutela della salute dei migranti: il contesto europeo e il caso Italia

Understanding health as a fundamental human right, not limited only to the biological dimension, but including the social, economic, and political ones, the authors, after briefly describing the politics enacted at the European level to protect migrant health, analyzethe Italian experience in the light of international guidelines. Italy is, in fact, a specific and advanced case of migrant health protection; it's very inclusive health policy recognizesthe equality in rights and responsibilities of legal citizens and offers protection and assistance to immigrants without legal authorization to reside in the country. However, even in an advanced context such as the Italian, it is important to transition from an assistance-based approach to a broader one of health promotion through intersectoral policies in light of the theory of the social determinants of health. Addressing the issue of migrant health represents an opportunity for the health services and, in general, for migration policies to become more focused on each person, his/her history, and the context in which he/she lives in.