Children who live in Roma neighborhoods have difficulty accessing medical services. In the “Faculteta” district (population 40,000), Sofia, for example, there’s only one general practitioner. And in Samokov, although most children have a personal doctor, they visit the medical offices only in case of illness, and neither preventive examinations nor the immunization calendar are observed.
According to UNICEF data, the percentage of Roma children who are affected by various forms of anemia reaches 61.2%. A study (including biochemical screening) conducted by the Health and Social Development Foundation (2023) together with national nutrition consultant Prof. Duleva, among 42 children from quarter 7 in Samokov, showed that 10.8% were with hemoglobin levels (g/l) below reference values, 11.8% had low iron levels (umol/l) and 5.9% had iron-binding capacity (IBC) values (umol/l) below reference values. A high relative proportion of the examined children (45.9%) had leukocyte levels (g/l) above the reference values, indicating that these children had some inflammatory disease or infection during the study period. One of the most common consequences of anemia is that children suffer more often from infectious diseases, diseases of the upper respiratory tract, etc.
These data indicate the need to increase preventive work in Roma neighborhoods, as well as parental awareness, in order to reduce the burden and costs of the health care system from expensive treatment of chronic diseases in childhood and adulthood.
The “Doctor in the neighborhood” project will cover 150 children from Sofia and Samokov, providing them with quality medical care in their neighborhoods, through the medical offices located in the centers of the Health and Social Development Foundation in the capital’s “Faculteta” district and Quarter 7, Samokov.
Objective: The project aims to improve the prevention of diseases, with an emphasis on anemia, diagnosis and treatment of children from the two Roma neighborhoods. In this regard, it is planned to provide a medical specialist to carry out examinations in the medical offices.
An additional goal of the project is to improve parents’ awareness of anemia – its causes and long-term effects on children’s health.
Activities:
- “Doctor in the Faculteta neighborhood “, Sofia
- “Doctor in quarter 7”, Samokov
- “Anemia is voiceless” campaigns
Place: “Faculteta” neighborhood, Sofia and quarter 7, Samokov
Duration: 5 months.
Term: 01 September 2024 – 31 January 2025
Funding: the project is funded by the “Treatment and Rehabilitation of Children” Fund of the BCause Foundation
