Health equity and displaced people: Challenges, progress, and the path forward

In 2024, more than 123 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide, driven largely by conflicts, persecutions, and human rights violations.¹ Displaced populations include refugees (people who flee their country due to conflict or persecution), internally displaced people (those forced to flee their homes but who remain within their country's borders), and undocumented migrants and asylum seekers (individuals who cross borders without formal legal status, including those awaiting a decision on their protection claim). Our focus is primarily on undocumented migrants and asylum seekers (collectively referred to as undocumented migrants herein), whose exclusion from legal protection often leaves them the most vulnerable to gaps in health-care access. For millions of such individuals, health outcomes are determined not solely by medical need but also by legal status in host countries, which governs access to health care as well whether they are afforded protection and dignity. Many individuals flee from places where health systems have already collapsed due to war or economic crisis, compounding their vulnerability when they arrive in new countries.^2,3