A rapid scoping review of antibiotic access and use barriers among refugee and migrant populations

This global rapid scoping review (125 studies) examines how antibiotic resistance (ABR) affects migrants and refugees, who face heightened infection risks and unequal access to healthcare due to globalization, mobility, and displacement. Across diverse settings, barriers occur along the entire care pathway—approachability, acceptability, availability, accommodation, affordability, and appropriateness—and stem from both patient- and health-system factors. Key challenges include limited resources, social norms and beliefs, low health literacy, reduced autonomy, language barriers, service location, and cost, all of which hinder access to and appropriate use of quality-assured antibiotics. The review concludes that barriers are structural, financial, and systemic, vary by host-country health systems and broader policies, and require coordinated global action, including language-access initiatives, attention to country-of-origin norms, and stronger policy alignment to curb ABR.