[Health of immigrants: the epidemiological transition at the individual level]

The intensification of international migrations questions the national health system: do people who come from elsewhere have specific health needs? Answering this question is difficult on the one hand because of the very great heterogeneity of situations that can cover this "coming from elsewhere", and on the other hand because of the scarcity of available health data depending on the origin. This article brings some elements to answer these questions, starting by defining who are the populations concerned and what is their weight in the French population. From the available scientific literature, it shows that if immigrants are sometimes healthier than natives when they arrive in France, because good health is one of the conditions to "try the adventure elsewhere", this initial robustness can be undermined by the difficult living conditions on arrival in France. In addition, people from countries with limited resources know during their lives in France an "accelerated health transition", chronic diseases and mental disorders taking precedence over infectious diseases.