The healthcare screening and treatment processes for migrants entering the EU need to be better evaluated and coordinated across Member States - to prevent the potential spread of infectious diseases such as TB and HIV - the Royal Society has urged in a statement today 18 September 2007.

The call to action is produced by the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) of which the Royal Society is a member. It comes ahead of a conference on the public health implications of migration on the 27 September to be staged by the Portuguese Presidency of the EU.

Professor Volker ter Meulen, President of the Leopoldina Academy of Sciences, Germany and Chair the report's working group, said: "The public health implications of migration have received comparatively little attention at the political level. Most migrants to the EU are young and healthy, however, infectious diseases may well be more common among some groups. What is needed is a screening and treatment process that will determine the scale of the problem and tackle it, while still allowing migrants to openly enter the EU."

The statement raises issues where…