Exploring barriers to healthcare among internal and international female migrants in The Gambia
African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Exploring barriers to healthcare among internal and international female migrants in The Gambia | |
| Creator | Vandenbroeck, Aline Bekaert, Els Bittner, Julia M.P. Ceesay, Ismaila Scheerens, Charlotte Ruyssen, Ilse | |
| Description | Background: Existing research on female migration and healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa has predominantly focused on internal migration and maternal and child health, often overlooking broader healthcare access issues for (international) migrant women.Aim: This study aimed to quantitatively assess healthcare barriers faced by internal and international migrants relative to non-migrant women.Setting: The setting of this study was The Gambia.Methods: Using the 2019–2020 Gambia Demographic and Health Survey and overlap weighting, we compare healthcare access – based on reported usage and key barriers – between non-migrants and internal or international migrants. We distinguish between recent and settled migrants according to the duration of residence at the destination.Results: Financial barriers are reported by 26.46% – 28.09% of women, geographic barriers by 21.47% – 26.02% and safety barriers by 11.85% – 15.37%. Internal female migrants encounter significantly more geographic (odds ratio [OR] = 1.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.19, 1.45]), permission (OR = 1.43, 95% CI [1.16, 1.76]), safety (OR = 1.16, 95% CI [1.03, 1.30]) and financial (OR = 1.21, 95% CI [1.10, 1.33]) barriers than non-migrants – differences that persist for settled migrants. Conversely, international migrants do not experience more barriers than non-migrants. In addition, migrants who have moved in the past 3 years used health services more than non-migrants, both for internal migrants (OR = 1.14, 95% CI [1.00, 1.31]) and for international migrants (OR = 1.42, 95% CI [1.02, 1.98]), but these differences disappear for settled migrants.Conclusion: Policy interventions should address disparities between internal migrants and non-migrants and improve healthcare access for all women.Contribution: This study highlights internal migration as a key factor shaping healthcare access. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2025-09-26 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/phcfm.v17i1.4941 | |
| Source | African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 17, No 1 (2025); 18 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4941/8661
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4941/8662
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4941/8663
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4941/8664
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