As global migration intensifies amidst climate disruption, conflict, and widening inequalities, ensuring health justice for migrants has become an urgent planetary health imperative. Migrants face persistent barriers to health care, legal protection, and social inclusion—challenges exacerbated by intersecting crises and policy inaction. This symposium explores the structural determinants of migrant health disparities and the possibilities for transformative, rights-based responses.
Speakers
Professor Dr Brian J Hall (NYU Shanghai), an expert in global mental health, social epidemiology, and digital interventions, whose work includes large-scale studies on the health of migrant domestic workers and displaced communities in the Western Pacific.
Associate Professor Dr Natasha Howard (NUS/LSHTM) is a health systems and policy specialist with extensive experience in conflict-affected and humanitarian contexts, whose research integrates perspectives from displacement-affected populations to inform inclusive policy solutions.
Associate Professor Dr Tharani Loganathan (Universiti Malaya, Malaysia) is a Public Health Medicine Specialist and Associate Professor of Global Health at Universiti Malaya, specialising in health economics and policy. She coordinates the Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH) programme and leads postgraduate modules on Global Health, Global Health Leadership, and Ethics, Law and Health. Her research examines migrant and refugee access to healthcare. Actively engaged in collaborative research with civil society and international partners, and is a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in Southeast Asia
Dr Elizabeth Chong (IOM – UN Migration) is a results-driven public health professional and pharmacist with 7+ years of proven expertise in program development and implementation, health policy design, stakeholder engagement, and M&E, with a focus on migration health, TB, and health equity. Experienced in both national and regional roles across the US, Malaysia, and the Asia-Pacific, including within the UN and through direct engagement with ASEAN.
Moderator
Khaulah Fadzil is a Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), where she leads national and regional advocacy on humanitarian access in Myanmar, access to healthcare in the community and in detention, and the safe disembarkation of boats. Holding a Master’s in Public Health (MMedSc.), she has worked with communities in Lebanon, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Bangladesh, and Malaysia through roles with the Malaysia AIDS Foundation, UNHCR, ICRC, and MAHAR. A Fellow of the Equity Initiative and Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity (Southeast Asia), her work focuses on advancing equitable access to health and humanitarian assistance.
Through grounded empirical case studies and interdisciplinary analysis, the panel will discuss practical pathways for achieving health equity among migrant populations, including mental health innovations, inclusive health system reforms, and the co-creation of policy grounded in lived experience. This session aims to foster critical dialogue and collaborative learning toward shared solutions for migrant health justice in an era of accelerating planetary change.