Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action

Asia Pac J Public Health. 2016 Nov;28(8):703-705. doi: 10.1177/1010539516668628. Epub 2016 Sep 14.

Abstract

Approximately 3.5 million Nepalese are working as migrant workers in the Gulf countries, Malaysia, and India. Every year there are more than 1000 deaths and many hundreds cases of injuries among Nepalese workers in these countries excluding India. A postmortem examination of migrant workers is not carried out in most of these countries, and those with work-related injuries are often sent back to home. Uninsured migrant workers also do not have easy access to health care services in host countries due to the high medical and hospital fees. Greater efforts are needed to protect the health and well-being, labor rights, and human rights of migrant workers from Nepal and other South-Asian nations. There is a need to enforce universal labor laws in these countries and to develop accurate records of mortality and morbidity and their causes.

Keywords: global health; health care services; inequalities in health; population health; work place safety.

MeSH terms

  • Employment / legislation & jurisprudence
  • Health Services Accessibility
  • Human Rights
  • Humans
  • India / epidemiology
  • Malaysia / epidemiology
  • Medically Uninsured
  • Nepal / ethnology
  • Occupational Injuries / epidemiology*
  • Occupational Injuries / mortality*
  • Public Health
  • Transients and Migrants / statistics & numerical data*
  • Young Adult