European Commission Directorate-General "Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities" Unit E1- Social and Demographic Analysis

To what extent are Roma disadvantaged in terms of health and access to health care? What policies have been introduced to foster health and social inclusion? by Philipa Mladovsky While data and literature on Roma health are scarce, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Roma are disadvantaged in almost all areas of health. Health inequalities experienced by Roma are likely to be caused in part by their relatively poor access to health care services, caused in turn by poverty, lack of documentation, geographical distance from health providers and discrimination on the part of health workers. Initiatives developed under the European Union during the last twenty years have gone some way in providing a policy framework within which countries have attempted to redress these inequalities