Overcoming the barriers migrants face in accessing health care

Migrants face many barriers when accessing health care, both structural and political, leading to unmet need and poor quality care. Yet these barriers often can be overcome. This short communication reports a workshop confronting these issues at the First World Congress on Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Health. It explores the structural factors that create barriers and the competencies that health professionals need to overcome them. It then examines how one non-governmental organization did confront, successfully, a restrictive policy adopted in the United Kingdom, through advocacy and practical action. It concludes by examining the related issue of cultural competency, drawing on experiences of a mental health unit in Athens, Greece.