As part of the European Public Health Association’s annual conference, the Open Society Institute organized a workshop focused on the unmet health needs of Roma communities.
Roma health has received little attention in European public health circles. Data about the living conditions and health status of Roma is hard to find. Lack of trust and negative experiences with health systems keep Roma people from engaging with health professionals, which results in a lack of awareness by policymakers of the specific health needs of Roma communities.
The workshop featured presentations on the work of Roma NGOs and activists to gather data on the health conditions of their communities. Presenters offered valuable insight for participants interested in understanding and tackling Europe's most challenging health inequalities.
OSI partners and grantees Humanitarian and Charitable Roma Association – “Mesecina” (Gostivar, Macedonia), Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women ESE (Macedonia), Roma Center for Democracy (Valjevo, Serbia), and HealthMonitor (Hungary) presented examples of their research and work on Roma health.
The workshop was moderated by OSI Roma Health Project consultant Tamsin Rose.