PRESS RELEASE

The aim of this press release is to inform about the publishing of a document entitled Reducing Health Inequalities in Antenatal and Postnatal Care of Romani Women in the Republic of Macedonia – Policy Action Brief.

The report findings and the analysis show the disadvantages and the course to improve the access to qualitative health care. The recommendations in this policy action brief are a clear guide for future actions in the area of reproductive health in the system of health care.

In the frames of its activities, the National Roma Centrum for several years has been working on advocacy for a gradual implementation of the right to health with focus on reproductive health, on-time and qualitative healthcare services for female members of the Roma community.

The association National Roma Centrum within the project activities “Health Inequalities regarding Romani Women” in the period between November 2010 and November 2011 intensively worked on a research on the health care in the reproductive period of women in the Roma community. Thanks to the support from the Accountability and Monitoring in Health Initiative (AMHI) of the Open Society Institute New York and the Roma Health Program (RHP) of the Open Society Institute Budapest, NRC obtained data showing the disadvantages and the course to improve the access to qualitative health care.

Within the project activities, collection of data and assessment of the situation in the area of health inequalities at women’s reproductive period was carried out with a questionnaire on a representative sample of focus groups and in-depth interviews with target groups from other areas concerned. The qualitative research was based on 102 women in reproductive period (aged 15 to 49) organised in 10 focus groups in Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka, Kochani, Shtip and Bitola, as well as 25 individual interviews with officials of the Institute for Public Health of the Republic of Macedonia, the Office for Management of Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths, the Health Insurance Fund of Macedonia, health institutions directly providing services of reproductive health (representatives of departments of gynaecology and obstetrics or gynaecologists, counselling centres for reproductive health and patronage services).

Contact person

Sebihana Skenderovska

E-mail: skenderovska@nationalromacentrum.org

Website: www.nationalromacentrum.org