Poland: State of health of Roma; whether they have the same access to health care services as do ethnic Poles; average life expectancy of Roma compared to that of ethnic Poles (January 2005 - December 2005)

Romani Access to Health Care

In 2 December 2005 correspondence sent to the Research Directorate, a representative from the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) in Poland stated that she was unaware of any serious research on Roma access to health care having been recently carried out, although, in her estimation, there were some signs of improvement in the area of health care for Roma (HFHR 2 Dec. 2005). "Social nurses" assist Roma who are ill, and the Red Cross helps to provide medicine (ibid.). In addition, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) has reported on the "occasional provision of mobile medical units" to assist Polish Roma who live in remote communities (19 Jan. 2004).

While the "Program for the Roma Community in Poland," a decade-long government-run program with a budget of approximately 100 million zlotys [or roughly CAN$35,560,000 (Bank of Canada 19 Aug. 2003)] (PAP 19 Aug. 2003) emphasizes improving the educational situation of Roma as its main priority, it also seeks to improve their access to health care (HFHR 2 Dec. 2005; PAP 7 Apr. 2004; ibid. 19 Aug. 2003).

In September 2002, the ERRC published a report entitled The Limits of Solidarity: Roma in Poland After 1989 in which it raised the question of the discrimination that the Polish Roma experience in obtaining access to health care (ERRC 16 Sept. 2002; see also ERRC 7 Mar. 2003). According to the ERRC, an example of this discrimination is the refusal of certain health care professionals to treat Roma because of their ethnicity (ibid. 7 Mar. 2003), although this allegation could not be corroborated by the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within time constraints. In addition, in 2003, the ERRC claimed that some Roma living in segregated communities often had difficulty in obtaining acceptable levels of health care services (ibid.).

Health of Roma

Despite the above-mentioned government measures to improve Romani access to health care, the representative from the HFHR said that the general state of Romani health care is poor (HFHR 2 Dec. 2005). While theoretically there is nothing to impede Romani access to health care, the representative felt that their higher levels of unemployment contributed to poorer-than-average access in practice, since those who do not work and pay for health care are not entitled to public health care, whereas Roma who have unemployment status or are covered by social assistance reportedly are (ibid.). Housing issues, such as "overcrowded dwellings [and] lack of basic facilities," plus "poor diet, [and] limited access to health care services" all contribute to the Roma's general state of health (ERRC 19 Jan. 2004).

Life Expectancy

In a letter drafted in January 2004 on the situation of Roma in Poland, the Executive Director of the ERRC stated that Polish Roma had "very serious health issues," and that the prevalence of diabetes and respiratory ailments resulted in a life expectancy that is shorter than that of the overall population (ERRC 19 Jan. 2004). Citing information found in a 2001 report on Roma in the province of Malopolska produced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, the ERRC estimated the life expectancy of Polish Roma to be about 55 years (ibid. 29 Nov. 2002), while the average Pole lives to be about 75 years old (WHO 2003; United States 10 Jan. 2006).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Bank of Canada. 19 August 2003. "Currency Conversion Results." [Accessed 15 Dec. 2005]

European Roma Rights Center (ERRC). 19 January 2004. Dimitrina Petrova. "Letter." [Accessed 25 Jan. 2006]
_____. 7 March 2003. "ERRC Actions on Roma Rights in Poland." [Accessed 7 Mar. 2003]
_____. 29 November 2002. "Written Comments of the European Roma Rights Center Concerning Poland: For Consideration by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its 29th Session, 11-29 November, 2002." [Accessed 25 Nov. 2006]
_____. 16 September 2002. "ERRC Publication Announcement: Report on Roma in Poland." [Accessed 16 Dec. 2005]

Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) [Warsaw]. 2 December 2005. Correspondence sent by a representative.

Polska Agencja Prasowa (PAP) News Agency [Warsaw, in Polish]. 7 April 2004. "Disbursal of Subsidies for Polish Government Roma Programme Reduced by Half." (Factiva/BBC)
_____. [Warsaw]. 19 August 2003. "Polish Government Approves Draft Programme for Roma People." (Dialog/BBC)

United States. 10 January 2006. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). "Poland." [Accessed 25 Jan. 2006]

World Health Organization (WHO). 2003. "Poland." [Accessed 25 Jan. 2006]

Additional Sources Consulted

The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) [Budapest] and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights [Warsaw] did not respond to requests for information within time constraints.

Internet Sites, including: Amnesty International (AI), The Economist, European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), The European Union (EU), Factiva, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch (HRW), The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Warsaw), The International Helsinki Federation (IHF), The Ministry of Health (Warsaw), The Open Society Institute, World News Connection (WNC).