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Despite widespread condemnation of the UK's asylum partnership arrangement with Rwanda, the Home Office appears to be going ahead with its plans to relocate to east Africa people who it deems to have arrived illegally and who are therefore not eligible for asylum in the UK. The policy, formed in response to increasing arrivals of migrants in small boats (28 500 arrived to the UK in 2021), has been hailed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the “morally right thing to do”, and is designed to deter refugees from entering the country through “illegal, dangerous or unnecessary methods”. Faith leaders, charities, civil servants, and members of parliament in the UK have denounced the plan as unethical, wrong, racist, and callous—sentiments echoed by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International. The agreement is unfair and shameful. It might be illegal and is certainly immoral. It is also undoubtedly bad for health.

Fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable (FCV) settings is a broad term describing a range of situations including humanitarian crises, protracted emergencies and armed conflicts. In FCV settings delivery of quality health services faces significant challenges, including disruption of routine health service organization and delivery systems, increased health needs, complex and unpredictable resourcing issues, and vulnerability to multiple public health crises. Despite the difficulty of addressing quality in FCV settings, the need is acute, given the significant health needs of the populations in such environments and the increasing numbers of people for whom FCV settings are home.   WHO is working with Member States, the Global Health Cluster, and technical and academic partners to support action to address quality in FCV settings. Building on the foundations of the WHO National quality policy and strategy initiative, WHO has developed a technical document, “Quality of care in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings: taking action”. The document outlines a practical approach to action planning and implementation of quality interventions in FCV settings and is accompanied by a curated compendium of tools.

Nurses often express a desire to serve others as a volunteer. They volunteer within their communities and across borders in global settings. While nurses considering participation or serving as a volunteer express altruistic intention, their actions may result in unintended adverse consequences to the host community. The purpose of this position statement is to promote ethically responsible volunteer efforts classified as short-term (six months or less) practice experiences in local and global healthcare and public health.

This paper, published in Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, aims to present contemporary criticism of medical volunteering. A range of ethical concerns are identified and possible ways of alleviation suggested. 

Save The Children are further strengthening their policy and regulatory frameworks to assure medical safety, while promoting a culture of learning to minimise medical incidents and maximise patient safety across their programmes. This article discusses why reduction of avoidable harm within healthcare is so important, and why more can be done within the international development sector.

In this blog, Dr Ahmed Khalafalla looks at the war in Sudan and its disastrous consequences for the health system. He outlines his observations about the impacts of war and conflict on patient safety, from shortages of medical equipment to disruptions to vital primary care services.

In 2020, 82 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced. In the same year, the UK received applications for asylum for over 37,500 people. Over 40% of those were women and children, and 8% were children who had arrived in the UK alone without a parent or guardian. This information produced by the Royal College of Psychiatry aims to support health and social care professionals in the UK coming into contact with displaced people. It provides information, guidance and support to ensure timely, high-quality care.