During implementation of a community development project involving a severely disadvantaged Roma community, the community was threatened with eviction. Two scenarios, eviction with placement on the waiting list for social housing versus a replacement housing development, were identified and specified. A health impact assessment (HIA) was carried out to inform subsequent negotiations.

An innovative partnership with members of the Romany Gypsy community living in South Bukinghamshire aims to improve physical and mental health and wellbeing. If it is successful it will be extended to other communities. 

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. 

Health inequalities experienced by Roma people living in Europe presents a persisting challenge for health research and practice. Available literature on Roma and health agrees that: (1) Roma people suffer from poorer health and unhealthier living conditions compared to majority populations, (2) better data are needed to explain the Roma health gap and design better interventions to reduce this gap and (3) the poor health of Roma is closely linked to the social determinants of health. 

The aim of our review was to analyze published evidence on the health conditions of Roma and Sinti people living in Italy. 

Background: In 2009, 8.4% of live births in Hungary were low birth weight (LBW) and 8.7% were preterm (PTB). Roma are disproportionately represented in Northern Hungary where LBW and PTB are highest in the country (10.3% equally). This study evaluates the risk factors for LBW and/or PTB among the Roma and non-Roma populations in two Northern Hungarian counties. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 5469 non-Roma and 2287 Roma mothers who gave birth in 2009. Women were visited by the Maternal and Child Health Service nurses and completed in-person structured surveys on demographic, socio-economic, cultural and lifestyle factors. These data were combined with biometric data from hospital records. Bivariate statistics and a logistic regression analyses were used to determine risk factors for LBW and PTB. Results: Roma had a higher incidence of PTB and LBW babies compared with non-Roma women (PTB 9.9% vs. 7.1%, LBW 12.2% vs. 6.5% P = 0.001). However, ethnicity was not related to PTB and LBW in multivariable analyses, when controlling for socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics. Factors associated with LBW and PTB include being underweight, advanced maternal age, and smoking. Conclusion: Strategies that ensure healthy lifestyles must be well integrated in family-based interventions and in the schools, with special consideration for Roma women who have a higher prevalence of deleterious lifestyles and poor birth outcomes. Ensuring a healthy body weight and no smoking has important implications for the mother and foetus.

The hygienic conditions and the public health safety of the Hungarian Roma living in colonies are poorly known, the health care of Romany children is often subject to criticism.

Racial and ethnic disparities among North American patients with chronic kidney disease have received significant attention. In contrast, little is known about health-related outcomes of patients with end-stage renal disease among the Roma minority, also known as gypsies, compared to Caucasian individuals. We prospectively assessed the association between Roma ethnicity and long-term clinical outcomes in kidney transplant recipients