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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 29 december 2020

Aid groups aim to bring health care to migrants on way to U.S.

By JULIE WATSON problems before they wors-
Associated Press en, and create a system
MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) where their records can be
— Aurora Leticia Cruz has accessed by doctors along
tried to keep up with her the way.
blood pressure medication It is a daunting task that
since fleeing Guatemala will require finding the mi-
more than a year ago, but grants, many of whom are
the limbo she finds herself trying to avoid detection,
in — stuck in a sprawling and winning their trust. The
camp at the Texas border group's members also must
after traversing Mexico — get government officials
has made that hard. on board.
When Cruz felt woozy on And they must tread care-
a recent day as her blood fully, so the health data
pressure skyrocketed, it cannot be used against
could have ended in trag- the migrants. As they do
edy, leaving her 17-year- in Matamoros, the group
old granddaughter and will label each record with
two great-grandchildren a number, rather than a
under 3 alone in the camp name.
in Matamoros. But instead, Other aid groups are also
a nurse practitioner from tackling the challenge.
Oregon and a Cuban doc- A woman seeking asylum in the U.S and waiting in Mexico, is tested at a clinic in Matamoros, The International Rescue
Mexico, Nov. 17, 2020.
tor, who like Cruz is await- Associated Press Committee next month is
ing U.S. asylum proceed- officially launching InfoDig-
ings, were able to pull up ___ been hospitalized with the for them to get help," Davis na, an interactive map in
her medical record and The Associated Press pro- virus, even as medical fa- said. "We want to be able Mexico that connects mi-
prescribe the correct dos- duced this story with sup- cilities in the area struggled to fill that void." grants to shelters, health
age. port from the Solutions Jour- to keep up with infected The group is working to care providers and other
The health care workers nalism Network, a nonprofit patients this summer. connect migrants to health services wherever they are.
who helped Cruz are with organization dedicated to But the group's goal is not care and other resources It will offer live chats to an-
Global Response Manage- reporting about responses just to care for migrants by asking them what they swer migrants' questions
ment, a nonprofit that is to social problems. once they reach the bor- need via WhatsApp. The about everything from the
attempting to go beyond ___ der. It wants to offer health idea is to make contact latest COVID-19 restrictions
mere crisis response and Led by U.S. military vet- care along the routes mi- as early as possible with to the status of immigration
build a system to make it erans, Global Response grants take. migrants, treat their health court operations.q
easier to track the health Management is staffed by "Humanitarian aid has to
of migrants along their jour- volunteers primarily from be thought of in a different
ney from Central America the U.S. and paid asylum light," said executive direc-
to the U.S. border. Cruz's seekers who were medi- tor Helen Perry, an Army
medical record was cre- cal professionals in their Reserve nurse.
ated in June by the group, homelands. The group has It's uncertain how long the
which has been collecting treated thousands of mi- camp will even exist since
patient information. grants over the past year U.S. President-elect Joe
"I envision this as a relay at two clinics in Matam- Biden has pledged to undo
race in which we are pass- oros, including one inside the Trump administration
ing the medical baton to the camp. policy known as Remain in
other providers as people Medics with the group Mexico, which has forced
work their way north," said have innovated to bring tens of thousands of asylum
Blake Davis, a paramedic care to the austere envi- seekers to wait across the
from Maine who volunteers ronment, building on what border while their cases are
for the organization. they learned from the or- considered by U.S. courts.
The efforts are part of a ganization's work with dis- Regardless, there will con-
growing trend in humani- placed people in countries tinue to be people flee-
tarian aid that has acceler- such as Bangladesh and ing violence and poverty
ated amid the coronavirus Iraq. in Central America, and
pandemic, which has high- They have used telemedi- aid agencies are trying to
lighted the difficulties in cine to consult specialists in figure out how to protect
getting basic health care the United States and con- them.
to migrants. With public nected a portable device Davis, the paramedic from
hospitals overwhelmed by to an iPhone to perform a Maine, plans to set up a
virus cases, migrants with sonogram. They have also clinic next year in Tapach-
heart conditions or prob- worked with local lead- ula, on Mexico's southern
lematic pregnancies have ers in the camp to control border. He recently flew in
nowhere to go. Others the spread of the corona- a helicopter over the isolat-
have been prescribed in- virus by encouraging mask ed terrain migrants traverse
effective medications be- wearing, increasing the in Guatemala to view the
cause a changing array of number of hand-washing challenge medical teams
doctors are forced to treat stations and setting up an would face in treating peo-
them without any medical isolation area. Only one ple in transit.
history. person from the camp has "There is nothing out there