UP MS Migrant Health Programs

The University of Pécs is the largest higher educational institution in Hungary with around 20,000 students at nine faculties (including more than 3600 foreign students from 66 countries at the Medical School alone). The Medical School is not only a site of students of various fields of health sciences but also an outstanding centre for regional health care provision, training and research. The mission is to bring the gap between scientific research and everyday practice by training of highly-qualified professionals. That is reflected by the more than 50 accredited Ph.D. programs of the Medical School alone.

As a new initiative, University of Pécs Medical School is taking migration health as a new challenging field of health sciences with growing importance in both: training and research. Migration is a recurring issue nowadays due to the growing number of immigrants in the EU. The estimated number of migrants is already more than 50 million in the EU 28 and the immigration flow is about 1 million yearly. The problem is multidisciplinary, overarches health care and public health issues as well as social, economic and humanitarian aspects.

Migration as a rapidly growing global phenomenon has a significant impact on the workforce market of EU where – as a result of the adverse demographic developments – serious shortage could be well forecasted. So the smooth and successful integration of the migrants – where health is an essential issue - is a clear economic interest of the majority societies and a key tool for the social peace as well.

Chair of Clinical Infectology and Migration Health at the University of Pécs Medical School was established in 2007 to act as main facilitator of 'Migration Health' in Hungary and in the surrounding EU region. Since its establishment strong academic and political links and partnerships have been established across Europe to strengthen cooperation among interested partners. This is a new multidisciplinary field of health sciences with emerging importance and the department at Pécs has the most comprehensive expertise of it. By its virtue, this department is the main facilitator in several projects and taking the role either of developer and applicant / coordinator or partner as well. For further details, please visit the ‘Projects Section’ of our home page.