The health of the Roma minority in Slovakia is far worse than the rest of population, indicates a study by the Institute for Financial Policy (IFP) in cooperation with Finance and Health Ministry experts which was published last week. According to it, life expectancy as well as infant mortality among the Roma ethnic group is below the level of the majority.
The analysis indicated that the main reasons for the situation were bad living conditions and an insufficient use of health care in the excluded communities. Moreover, the access to health care is worsened by low awareness and education, discrimination, financial barriers as well as cultural and linguistic differences.
According to the IFP's analysis, international organizations such as The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the European Commission recommend improved monitoring, an analytical tool to improve the efficiency of Roma integration policies.
The study points at researches which indicate that cardiovascular diseases are 2.5 times more frequent among the Roma minority. Moreover, they make up more than half of the people infected by hepatitis A and as many as 80% of tuberculosis patients. Between 2006 and 2015, the life expectancy among Roma was six years below that of the majority population (70-76 years).
The first results of merging the Atlas of Roma Communities with administrative data have shown that the Roma population significantly lags behind in results on the job market, education, and that the progress has been too slow in recent years. The IFP warns that bad living conditions, worsened access to health care, low awareness and a low level of education result in bad health, which also influences the success of the Roma community in schools and on the job market.
