Research on Roma health and access to healthcare: state of the art and future challenges

Health inequalities experienced by Roma people living in Europe presents a persisting challenge for health research and practice. Available literature on Roma and health agrees that: (1) Roma people suffer from poorer health and unhealthier living conditions compared to majority populations, (2) better data are needed to explain the Roma health gap and design better interventions to reduce this gap and (3) the poor health of Roma is closely linked to the social determinants of health. This editorial discusses the lessons to be learnt from recent research findings and outlines a number of challenges in exploring and addressing the various mechanisms that contribute to the health gap between Roma and majority populations.