Health status
The Roma population views its own health quite similarly to the EU-27 population despite the
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fact that the Roma population in the countries studied is signifi cantly younger. 68% of Roma consider their health to be good or very good compared to 66% of the EU-27 population. However, if we break down data by age bracket we fi nd that 2% of the Roma population between the ages of 15 and 24 rates their health as poor or very poor, 0.6 percentage points higher than the EU-27 popula- tion. This fi gure rises to 36% for the Roma population in the 65–74 age bracket compared to 21% for the EU-27 population in that same age bracket.
15% of the European Roma population has some sort of disability or chronic illness which
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translates into a total of 407,000 individuals. The countries with the highest percentage of the population in these circumstances are Portugal with 20% and Slovakia with 19%.
The chronic illnesses most aff ecting the Roma population are migraines and headaches, hy-
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pertension, asthma and chronic bronchitis and high cholesterol. Adults mostly suff er from mi- graines, headaches and hypertension while minors are most aff ected by asthma, chronic bronchitis and allergies.
12% of the Roma population encounters a certain degree of diffi culty engaging in some or all
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daily activities. Moreover, six out of every ten of these people need to be cared for by others.
11% of Europe’s Roma population had an accident during the year preceding the interview.
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Most accidents occur at home, accounting for 43% of the total followed by accidents outside the home (20%) and traffi c accidents (17%).
19% of the Roma persons interviewed encountered some sort of limitation to their daily ac-
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tivity during the two weeks immediately preceding the interview. People living in unhealthy neighbourhoods or shanty towns were the ones most aff ected by limitations to their daily activity.
The most pervasive dental problem among the Roma population is cavities.
• 34% of Roma mi-
nors and 61% of the adults have cavities.
One third of the Roma population living in the countries studied (over age 15) has some vision
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or hearing diffi culty. This means that 560,000 people encounter diffi culties of this sort. Hearing problems are most prevalent, aff ecting one out of every 4 Roma or 427,000 people.
Use of health-care services
The most frequently consumed medicines both in the case of Roma minors and adults living
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in the countries studied are those used to combat colds, pain and to reduce fever. The con- sumption of blood pressure medicine and birth control pills among adults is also signifi cant. Use of antibiotics among minors is likewise noteworthy.
With regard to self-medication, minors are mainly self-medicated with remedies to combat
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colds, pain and/or to reduce fever; antibiotics as well, but to a lesser degree. Adults self-med- icate with blood pressure medicine and pain, fever and cold remedies. It is also worth noting that 14% of the women who take birth control pills and 10% of those who take heart medicine, self pre- scribe these drugs.
As for the frequency of physician visits, the highest percentage registered was for people who
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visited the physician more than a month but less than a year before the date of the interview (36% of those interviewed).
The Roma population that visited their physician in the two weeks immediately preceding the
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interview did so mainly for a diagnosis and/or treatment (55%). 28% of the Roma who visited their physician did so for a check-up, the second most common reason for the visit. In Greece, only 3.2% of those who saw their physician did so for a check-up. In contrast, in Bulgaria 53.5% last saw their physician for that purpose.
8% of the Roma population interviewed claimed to not have received medical assistance when
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they needed it (17% in Greece and 14% in Bulgaria). The main reason that the Roma population failed to receive medical attention had to do with their economic situation.
28% of Roma minors do not properly adhere to the childhood vaccination calendar.
• The case
of Romania is particularly notorious with 46% of Roma minors failing to properly adhere to the child vaccination programme. In 42% of the cases where minors were not properly vaccinated, the par- ent or guardian claimed to have forgotten to take the children for their innoculation. We would also point out that in 12% of the cases, the reason was a lack of economic resources.
32.5% of the Roma population in the countries surveyed have never seen a dentist.
• Moreover,
38% of those interviewed had not visited a dentist in the year prior to the interview.
16% of the Roma population has been hospitalised for at least one overnight stay in the year
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leading up to the interview. The Portuguese made greatest use of hospital services (23%). The Slovakians and Spaniards frequent hospitals the least (12% in both cases). As for the reason for the most recent hospitalisation, medical treatment without surgery topped the list.
24% of those interviewed had made use of some emergency room services in the 12 months
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prior to the interview. This percentage is higher in Greece (32%), Spain (37%) and especially in Portugal where 73% of the Roma population claimed to have used emergency room services. The 45 and over age bracket used emergency services more than any other.
Nearly 40% of Roma women age 16 and over have never been to the gynaecologist or went
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only because of pregnancy or to give birth. In Portugal, 24% have never been to the gynaecolo- gist and 60% have gone exclusively for reasons related to pregnancy or giving birth.
Lifestyles
44% of the Roma population (over age 15) smokes on a daily basis.
• 59% of Roma men as op-
posed to 31% of Roma women are habitual smokers. In Greece, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, over 60% of the men are regular smokers.
The Roma population begins to smoke on a daily bases at the age of 15.5.
• Portugal is the coun-
try where the habit starts the earliest (age 13) and Slovakia the country where the average starting age is the highest (17).
56% of those interviewed had consumed some alcoholic beverage in the 12 months prior to
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the interview. Slovakia is the country where consumption was the greatest, exceeding the average by 14 percentage points (70%). The fi gures also indicate that the Roma population starts to drink at an increasingly younger age; while the 45 and older group started to drink at age 18, the 16 to 29 age bracket began at age 16.
The overwhelming majority of Europe’s Roma population does not have any alcohol and/or
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drug related problems. However, 11% of Roma households have at least one member with an alcohol and/or drug problem. In the case of Bulgaria this fi gure is 18%, Greece 17% and the Czech Republic 14%.
The households most aff ected by alcohol and/or drug abuse are those located in neighbour-
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hoods or residential areas with poor health conditions and/or precarious housing arrange- ments. 19% of the family units living in sub-standard housing have members undergoing this sort of problem.
60% of the Roma population of the countries studied claims to not engage in any sort of physi-
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cal exercise during their free time. Only 11% of the population engages in physical activity during their free time; 8% several times per month and 3% several times per week.
Only 28% of the Roma population consumes fruits and fresh vegetables every day.
• Moreo-
ver, 18% of the population never eats fi sh. In contrast, 36% of the populations consumes sweets every day.
And lastly, 27% of the Roma population is overweight and 17% is obese.
• Obesity levels are
highest for the age 2 to 9 and 45 and over age brackets where the obesity index is 27.5% and 27.65% respectively.