In this article we compare the health policies developed in the United Kingdom, France, and Spain towards its populations of immigrant origin. After a brief description of the migratory processes that affected these countries in the second part of the XXth century, we analyse the mechanisms of entitlement to access the health care systems, placing them in the context of the evolution of the public health care systems (specially its coverage), as well as the degree of politicisation of immigration issues. Beyond the issue of access we pay particular attention to health inequalities that specifically affect minority ethnic groups, linking the policies aimed at reducing those inequalities to the model of incorporation of their own internal diversity implemented in each country.

Peer reviewed