Global health. The current scenario and future perspectives

183 12. International migration and healthcare sector responses in Latin America: Challenges in training Alex Alarcón Hein, Hellen Cisternas-Bórquez International Context by 2022. International Migration as an Axis The phenomenon of international migration is a highly dynamic process that depends on changes in governments and corresponding immigration policies, social, political and economic crises, internal conflicts within countries, wars, pandemics and environmental phenomena related to climate change (McCracken & Phillips, 2017). Currently, migration worldwide continues to rise. According to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) (McAuliffe & Triandafyllidou, 2022), an estimated 281 million international migrants were recorded in the world in 2020, which represents 3.6% of the global population. Of these migrants, 48% were women and 52% were men, of whom 74% were working-age individuals (20-64 years old). Despite the ongoing global pandemic caused by Covid-19, migration for economic, social and political reasons intensifies and increases. However, we must not overlook that, prior to the current health crisis, migratory flows were already increasing and making constant progress towards integrating migrants into receiving countries. But during this crisis period this advance has been surpassed by increased migration through unauthorized border crossings, which has led to an expanding humanitarian crisis. We have seen this with the Venezuelan diaspora in Latin America but also, more recently, due to the humanitarian crisis resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which has unleashed an unprecedented armed conflict in our recent history accompanied by forced displacement of entire families seeking security, stability and peace. The current numbers of people transiting or fleeing through different areas on our planet while facing restrictions on leaving their own country can result in an exhausting, risky and insecure journey. Family and personal histories are left behind, which worsens the experiences of this journey and makes it more difficult, with uncertainties of all kinds. In addition to economic, social and political reasons, international migration in recent years has also been associated with climate change and environmental damage. Current governance on migration, national and local policies and best practices must incorporate the importance of these environmental factors and natural disasters that affect human mobility today and in the future. They should be integrated in all areas of migration