4.N. Round table: Harnessing migration to build health system resilience: lessons from the Ukrainian refugee context

Abstract The influx of more than 6 million Ukrainian refugees since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has placed strain on the health systems of receiving countries. This is only one of many recent crises, following the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession. Such a series of acute shocks leaves health systems with little time to recover, highlighting the importance of proactively building health system resilience. We draw on the resilience testing methodology that the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (OBS) and the OECD developed, tasked by the European Commission. Resilience testing brings together key stakeholders in a workshop to identify specific health system weaknesses and find opportunities to address them. This is the first time resilience testing has been used in the context of migration and the first time it has been used to understand, promote and improve health system resilience in an ongoing crisis. In this roundtable discussion, OBS and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will share learnings from our ongoing activity that tests health system resilience in Poland, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Czechia and Latvia, in context of the large influx of refugees from Ukraine. This is part of the EU4Health funded project “Improving access to healthcare for refugees and people displaced from Ukraine benefitting of temporary protection in Member States”. The session brings together international organizations (EC, OBS, IOM), policy-makers and health system experts who will share the experience of applying resilience testing as a practical instrument to strengthen health systems in the face of persistent adversity. The objectives of the workshop are to: • Discuss the implementation of health system resilience testing in the context of migration; • Present country examples that have used resilience tests to understand and improve their health system's resilience based on the influx of refugees from Ukraine; • Engage workshop participants in discussion to identify promising approaches to strengthen health system resilience in the context of mass population displacement and persistent adversity. The workshop consists of a short intervention by each panelist (20 minutes total) and panel discussion with audience interaction (40 minutes). The interventions will introduce the methodology, showcase countries’ experience, and provide an EU view on the value of health system resilience in the context of the refugee situation. The audience interaction will consist of a moderated discussion. The discussion will reflect on learnings for practitioners, researchers and policy-makers, so that countries can prepare more systematically for future mass population displacements and ensure health system resilience. Key messages • The ability to withstand change is crucial for health systems. Resilience testing allows us to be prepared to respond to these changes. • The influx of Ukrainian refugees provides an opportunity to examine health system resilience and strengthen access to healthcare for both refugees and current residents. Speakers/Panellists Elena Val International Organization for Migration, Brussels, Belgium Iwona Anna Bielska Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland Valeriu Sava Independent Consultant, Chișinău, Moldova