The Iqbal Survey

English

Health and Life of Afghan Immigrants in California

Why Iqbal survey?

Afghanistan, a country of 40 million people, has experienced more than four decades of war, violent conflict, and political instability. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with some of the worst health indicators. Poverty, violence, and the growing conflicts have forced hundreds of thousands of Afghans to leave their home country. More than 80,000 came to the United States, with roughly 20,000 resettling in California

Immigrant populations often face xenophobia and discrimination. They may have poor living, health, housing, and working conditions, inadequate access to health services, and, consequently, experience more significant health disparities than their host population

Surveys of Afghan immigrants and their early post-resettlement life and health vulnerabilities are scarce to none. However, early diagnosis and management of life and health vulnerabilities is critical to providing equitable access to and use of educational and health care resources to avoid suffering and future burdens to Afghan immigrants, the health care system, and California overall. There is an urgent need to develop a foundation to study and monitor Afghan immigrant populations' life and health outcomes.

The survey’s name is “Iqbal” “اقبال”. It is a word in Dari - a Persian language spoken in Afghanistan - and means “fortune

What We Do?

The survey objectives are to develop and pilot a small cohort study to assess Afghan immigrants' life and health vulnerabilities during the post-resettlement phase and explore their experiences, attitudes, and causes of those vulnerabilities.

These research findings will be used to successfully design and implement University of California (UC) multicampus studies and interventions targeting Afghan and other immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and beyond

Meet Our Research Team

The research team has first-hand immigration experience and are native speakers of Dari, Pashto, and Farsi (a Persian language). They draw on decades of collective, complementary experiences with immigrant populations and minority health research.

University of California, San Francisco

  • Ali Mirzazadeh, MD, PhD, MPH (PI – Epidemiologist), Associate Director of the Global Health Sciences PhD program and Associate Professor
  • Eva Raphael, MD, MPH (Co-I – Medical Records Expert), Family Physician and Assistant Professor
  • Carol Camlin, MPH, PhD (Co-I – Qualitative Methods Expert), Professor of Ob/GYN and Reproductive Sciences
  • Leila Taj, MD (survey staff) Research Scholar at the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences
  • Iftekhar Sadaat, MD, MPH (Project Manager), Research Specialist at the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences
  • Sima Naderi, MPH (survey staff), PhD Student at the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences
  • Mohammad Sediq Hazratzai, MD, MPH (Co-I - Consultant), Afghan senior scientist at PHI and global affiliated faculty at the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences

University of California,  Davis (Sacramento)

  • Marius P.  Koga, MD, MPH, FRSPH (Co-I – Clinical Psychology Expert), Associate Professor and Director of Ulysses Refugee Health Research Training Program at the Department of Public Health Sciences

University of California,  Berkeley

  • Rohini J. Haar, MD MPH (Co-I – Trauma and Conflict Expert), Emergency physician, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health; Research Fellow at the Human Rights Center; and Lecturer at the School of Law
  • Jonanne Talebloo (survey staff), Undergraduate Teacher-Scholar, Co-Founder of Empower Health

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