In this article, based on a study suggested and sponsored by the Hungarian Office of Ethnic and National Minorities, the author argues that perceptions, misperceptions, and cultural differences between health care providers and traditional Roma affect the quality of health care provided by the Hungarian health care system. I n the spring of 1998, we carried out an empirical research on the topic of the health of the Hungarian Gypsy population. Because of the restricted budget of the survey, and even more because of my personal interest and professional background, I chose a social-psychological approach to the topic. We decided to observe the relationship between young pregnant Gypsy women, young mothers with small children, and the representatives of the health care system, focusing on several issues.
Prevention is the most important factor of effective health care.
Caretaking of pregnant women, providing adequate conditions for childbirth and the care for young children, and the ability to recognize illnesses as early as possible, are the main items in that process. Care for pregnant women and young mothers is a proper field for our purposes because this field is one of the best documented in Hungarian health care, where each member of the concerned population has contact with health care representatives. Finally, the topics of childbirth, pregnancy, and procreativity of the Gypsy population are very much associated with their poor health conditions, with their short life-expectancy in comparison to the majority population, etc. Typical explanations of this phenomenon are the higher rates of premature birth, in connection with early, frequent or late deliveries, and consequently, dystrophy, mental and physical disabilities, and sensitivity for several illnesses occuring among Gypsies. It is a legitimate question why this well-covered field of the health care system where representatives have in every case a personal contact with their patients, is not more effective, why it is not able to intervene in these negative phenomena, and why have not more significant changes occurred in the last few decades.