Colombia adopts health plan for migrant and refugee population

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection adopted, through Resolution number 00001758 of 2026, dated August 5, the Health Sector Care Plan for the Migrant, Refugee, Returned Population and Host Communities, created and institutionalized the Technical Table on Migration and Health, and issued provisions for the creation or strengthening of territorial technical tables. The regulation was published in the Official Gazette, edition 53,618, on Monday, September 7, 2026, and signed by Minister Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo Martínez.

The resolution is issued in exercise of the powers granted by numeral 3 of article 173 of Law 100 of 1993, numerals 42.1, 42.3, and 42.4 of article 42 of Law 715 of 2001, and numeral 2 of article 2 of Decree number 120 of 2026. Its purpose is to adopt the plan, create the national technical table, and regulate territorial instances, in order to organize the institutional response to mixed migratory flows and mitigate their effects on the health of the migrant population and receiving communities.

Regulatory Framework and Background

The regulation is based on the Comprehensive Migration Policy (PIM) of Law 2136 of 2021, section 4.3.1 of CONPES 3950 of 2018 (“Strategy for the care of migration from Venezuela”), and CONPES 4100 of 2022 regarding the integration of the Venezuelan migrant population. It also incorporates the exhortations of the Constitutional Court in rulings T-178 of 2019 and T-336 of 2022, which requested the dissemination of access routes to health services for the beneficiary population.

The plan was developed participatively: during 2023, technical tables were held with ministry departments, Migración Colombia, the National Planning Department, the National Civil Registry, the ICBF, and the Health Cluster, with representatives from Norte de Santander, Santander, La Guajira, Antioquia, and Bogotá. In 2024, technical assistance was provided to more than 30 territorial entities, including the districts of Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena, Medellín, Riohacha, Santa Marta, and Tumaco.

Adopted Technical Documents

The resolution adopts four technical documents that are an integral part of the administrative act:

• Technical Document 1: “Health sector Care Plan for the migrant, refugee, returned population and host communities”.
• Technical Document 2: “Guidelines for the implementation of the Care Plan”.
• Technical Document 3: “Guidance guide for the territorial adoption and harmonization of the Plan”.
• Technical Document 4: “Guidelines for the formation and institutionalization of the technical table on migration and health”.

Technical Table on Migration and Health

The ministry’s Technical Table on Migration and Health shall be permanently composed of the directors and heads of the offices of Citizenship, Equity and Health; Social Determinants, Promotion and Prevention; Mental Health and Coexistence; Epidemiology and Demography; Primary Health Care; Human Talent Development; Regulation of Insurance Operation; Sectoral Financing; Regulation of Benefits, Costs and Tariffs; and the offices of Cooperation and International Relations, Territorial Management, Emergencies and Disasters, Quality, and Sectoral Planning and Studies.

• ADRES will participate as a permanent guest in matters of financing and monitoring of insurance resources.
• The table will hold ordinary sessions (four sessions per year) and extraordinary sessions, either in person or virtually.
• The Directorate of Citizenship, Equity and Health will serve as the technical secretariat.

Territorial Obligations

Departmental and district entities must harmonize and incorporate the plan into their Territorial Health Plans (PTS) and their Health Action Plans, in accordance with the methodological guide of Technical Document 3. Additionally:

• They must create or strengthen the Territorial Technical Tables on Migration and Health within a maximum period of six months from the publication of the resolution.
• They shall designate a territorial referent for migration and health within twenty business days following the issuance, who will serve as the technical secretariat of the table.
• Border municipalities with migratory dynamics must create their own table and designate a referent.

The resolution takes effect from its issuance. With it, the Colombian health sector institutionalizes a stable governance to attend to the migrant, refugee, and returnee population, in a context of mixed migratory flows and a high presence of Venezuelan population, and transfers to the territories the responsibility of operationalizing the plan within their local health policies.

Source: Official Gazette, edition 53,618, Monday, September 7, 2026, pág. 36-39 (official reference: Resolution number 00001758 of 2026).