On April 17, 2024, INESS organized a roundtable on the upcoming analysis of high infant mortality in Roma communities.
Matej Bárta and Martin Vlachynský spoke on behalf of INESS at the roundtable, discussing with Mikuláš Lakatoš and Ľudmila Plachá (both Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities), Michaela Černěnko (Institute of Health Analyses, Ministry of Health), Monika Grochová (Healthy Regions), Magdaléna Rothová (Association for Culture, Education and Communication), Tatiana Speváková (pediatrician) and Tomáš Szalay (Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for the SaS party).
After the presentation of the analysis prepared by Matej Bárta, the participants discussed various aspects of the issue, including, for example, the availability and quality of data, the issue of focusing on Roma versus marginalized communities, the diversity of issues contributing to increased infant mortality, as well as the ethics and philosophical level of interventions in marginalized communities. The role of education and schools was also considered. The interview also addressed the ongoing field and analytical activities of the participating institutions.
Our ongoing project, supported by the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, aims to support and improve policies to reduce extremely high infant mortality with the help of educational change.