Before you is the Public Policy Document entitled “Access to Primary Health Care for Roma Women and Women with Disabilities During and After COVID-19” which summarizes the key findings gathered during the research that HERA conducted in the course of 2023 in cooperation with the civil society organisations “Polio Plus – Movement against Disability”, Association for Promotion and Development of Inclusive Society – Inkluziva and the Šuto Orizari Women’s Initiative, with the support of the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
This research contributed to a better understanding of the level of impact the different factors have had on the access to health services at the primary level of the healthcare system, particularly to preventive health services, for two vulnerable population groups – Roma women and women with disabilities. This is why the research particularly addressed the impact of the COVID pandemic as a healthcare emergency but also described the feeling of being discriminated against when provided with health services by general practitioners, the presence of corruption when trying to obtain certain health rights, the cultural and personal factors related to prevention and vaccination etc.
By implementing the recommendations given in this document, the policy makers and other stakeholders from the healthcare sector and wider could not only improve the availability and accessibility of the primary healthcare system for Roma women and women with disabilities but also help prepare for possible future cases of emergency.
The document is available here.
