People on the move.

This article examines the interrelationship between population mobility disease and health. Movements from 1 set of ecological conditions to another can expose people to diseases transmitted by the insect vectors. Movements also bring different groups of people into contact and thus enhance the possibilities of disease transmission. The physical and psychological stress resulting from population movement can lower resistance and increase susceptibility to infection particularly when migration is necessitated by natural hazards or political disruption. Migrants to urban centers often face traumatic social economic and environmental conditions. Not only is mobility a factor in disease transmission but disease itself may be a factor responsible for population movement. Conditions such as onchocerciasis can cause entire areas to become uninhabitable forcing population redistribution. Medical advances in the fields of vaccination inoculation and chemoprophylaxis have helped to reduce the health hazards associated with mobility. The establishment of health regulations within countries requiring the notification of infectious diseases and between countries involving international health control requirements have also been important mechanisms. However a better understanding of the nature of population movements their function in disease transmission and programs for disease control and eradication is required. Several World Health Organization programs are directing attention toward elucidating these problems.