Fundación Secretariado Gitano

A study by the Spanish Ministry of Health shows that the Roma population in Spain have a worse health situation than the general population [editar]

During the period covered by this comparison, between 2006 and 2014, The Action Plan for the Development of the Roma population 2010-2012, was aproved by Spanish Council Of Ministers on 9th of April 2010. Subsequently, in line with the European Framework Strategy for Social Inclusion of the Roma population (European Commission on 5 April 2011) the National Strategy for the Social Inclusion of the Roma population in Spain 2012-2020 was aproved by Council of Ministers on 2nd March 2012.
In the eight years time since the previous study(2006 to 2014), and despite these policies and programmes put into action, inequalities have not been significantly reduced. Therefore, it is necessary to review and evaluate our interventions and to implement, in a context of inter-sectoriality, new or more intensive, more effective, more equitable policies at all levels of governance - local, autonomous, national, European - that improve the health status of the entire population and reduce the inequity gap.

The Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality published the "Second National Survey of Health to Roma Population 2014 (in spanish)". The objective of this study is to describe the current situation of the Roma population in Spain in relation to their state of health, lifestyles and access to health services, compared to the general population of Spain. In addition, since in 2006 the Ministry of Health and Social Policy prepared a survey of health for the Roma population through an agreement with the Fundación Secretariado Gitano, the current results are compared with those of 2006.

The objectives of the report are:

1. To carry out a diagnosis of the health status, lifestyles and access and use of health services by the Roma population of Spain, taking into account some of the main social determinants of health, to plan and evaluate health actions.
2. To study if there are inequalities in health in the Roma population with respect to the whole population of Spain from the comparison with the National Health Survey 2011-2012 (ENSE 2011-12), to prioritize intervention areas.
3. Compare the results of the National Health Survey to the Roma Population of 2014 with the ENS to the Roma population of 2006.

The report has taken into account a total of 1167 adult persons divided into three age groups (15-34, 35-55, 55 and over years) with an equal distribution by gender. However, unlike the 2006 study, due to budgetary problems, the child population has not been studied. However, in the individual questionnaire addressed to adults, when the children lived in the home under 14 years or less, information was collected on one of them, randomly selected, which allows some basic indicators referred to 485 minors.

The study had into account the following aspects: Health Condition; Use Of Health Services; Life Habits; Sociodemographic Variables; Home; Children in the House; Level of Income; Housing; Access and Use of New Technologies; Children and Parents; Social and Personal Support.

From the conclusions of this study, we can extract that the health status of the Roma population in Spain is generally good. However, compared to the general population, it has worse results than the general population of Spain. In addition, multiple indicators show a worsening of health status according to the socioeconomic position.

Over the course of life, the influence of social determinants of health is cumulative, which translates into greater inequality in health in the older population, for most of the indicators collected in the survey. Likewise, in the case of the Roma population, as in the population of Spain, women report a worse health status than men.

The existence of these inequalities in health had already been evidenced in the first comparative study carried out in 2006. This second study (2014) shows that in the eight years that have passed, inequalities have not been significantly reduced. 

The state of health of populations is explained by a set of social factors that determine health, so that strategies to reduce inequity in health can not be confined exclusively to health services. The universality of the National Health System (NHS), the strengthening and integration of all levels of the health system (state, regional and local) and the specific actions to advance the health equity of the Roma population are essential mechanisms for The achievement of greater equity in health, but insufficient if we do not work intersectorally to influence and transform social determinants of health.