Abstract

In the Children's Outpatient Clinic in the Kočevje Health Centre, the health care is organised for almost the entire population of the Roma children living in the Kočevje area. Their state of health is monitored during illnesses and regular health check-ups. The child morbidity rate among the Roma and among non-Roma children is comparable, although there are some differences in the frequency of contracting illnesses, and their causes of disease and also in the treatment course. These differences can be attributed mostly to the fact that the level of education and general knowledge of the Roma parents is very low and therefore, they experience problems when trying to understand the doctor's explanations interpretation of their child's health situation and also the instructions for further treatment. Consequently, it has been established that it is of prime importance to provide additional education for the Roma parents in order to improve prevention and curative treatment. At the same time, more attention should be paid to individual families, as well as to the entire Roma population, in close cooperation with other institutions involved.

Key words: the Roma child population, child morbidity rate of the Roma and non-Roma children, level of education and general knowledge of the Roma parents, improvement in curative treatment and prevention among Roma children.