Unfavorable socio-economic and living conditions, along with the barriers in the access to health services contribute to the poor health status and shorter life span of Roma people compared to the majority population. According to research data, 45% of male Roma and 64% of female Roma suffer from chronic diseases.
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„Nevzat is one of the 25000 Roma who suffers from several chronic diseases (tuberculosis, bronchitis and asthma). Often he needs the First aid emergency services which mean care for his health and saving his life. However, the first aid services do not always respond to his calls”. |
The prepared video illustrates the barriers that Roma people face in the access to health care, in particular when the First aid services refuse to provide their services. The main purpose of our petition is to ensure timely and quality First aid services both for Roma and all other citizens of RM when that is required. Therefore, in this petition we shall request the following from the Ministry of health:
- Preparation and adoption of a unified triage protocol whereby the First aid service will be able to establish whether to respond to the citizens’ requests. The adherence to the protocol shall eliminate the free judgment of health workers whether they need to respond to the calls.
- Any call to the first aid service should be recorded and the records should be kept for long time for the whole territory of RM. Citizens who were prevented to exercise their right to first aid can use this measure in any further procedures to exercise their rights.
Demographic standards for the First aid service in the network of medical institutions need to be developed and the First aid service should be adequately equipped with equipment and staff. This shall enable timely and quality services on the whole territory of RM.
