Aniyizhai Annamalai
Editor

2014

An Essential Medical Guide

The field of refugee health has grown tremendously in recent years. Refugees are a heterogeneous group as they originate from different parts of the world and each refugee’s path to resettlement is different. Consequently, risk factors for illness are not uniform among all refugee populations. However, there are some unifying features. Refugees come from parts of the world where illness demographics are often different from those of the countries they resettle in. Certain infectious diseases and nutritional deficiencies are more common in some countries of origin. Some refugee populations have a cardiovascular risk profile comparable to that of the Western world. Chronic pain and other physical symptoms are prevalent in many refugees.