This is one in a sequence of stories related to a WHO consultation with Member States to highlight and understand the complex needs of people living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in emergency situations when they are forced to leave their homes and the care they depend on.
Seven years ago, Mohamed arrived in Greece from Halab, Iran. Injured by a bomb during conflict, the presence of metal fragments throughout his skull, jawline, spinal cord, pelvis and legs mean that he is in constant pain. He had been a soldier his whole adult life, but this injury meant that he could no longer serve his country.
Mohamed thus fled to Greece and stayed at the Moria refugee and migrant identification centre on the island of Lesvos until it burned down. He was then moved to the Schisto refugee camp in Athens where he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and chronic pain as well as problems with movement, post-traumatic stress disorder and insomnia.
Mohamed relies on the camp’s health-care professionals to monitor his blood glucose levels and to receive insulin treatment and medication for his mental health. He receives specific meals that take into account several dietary restrictions in response to his health condition.
Staff of the National Public Health Organisation (NPHO) ensure that he is provided with the support he needs to manage his NCDs and rehabilitate following several injury-related operations. Mohamed holds a temporary social security number, so when he needs further tests and support, NPHO staff also arrange appointments for him with endocrinologists and other health-care practitioners outside the camp’s clinic.
However, when in need of additional tests and closer monitoring, Mohamed says that access to health-care is limited due to “long queues and a lack of available interpreters who can accurately communicate the patient’s health condition”. He also suffers from mobility issues that make it harder to receive external health-care procedures such as scans and operations.