This paper discusses the relationship between immigration and health in Brazil, from a historical approach seeking to put in context this debate from the nineteenth century to the present day. These relationships highlight the challenges of social policies of reception and integration of immigrants in a globalized world. Through literature review on immigration and health both in the Brazilian and the international context, we seek to reveal essential priorities to public health emerging from the present intense human mobility. Socioeconomic inequalities are the hallmark of the immigrants’ experience, exposing these populations to greater vulnerability, illness and a reducing their quality of life. We conclude on the much needed promotion of equitable access to health, discrimination prevention, expansion of public policies, adequate training of professionals and offering services that are fitted to migrants, from the point of view of migration as a social determinant of health.
Immigration; Public health; Primary health care; Quality of life; Public policies