Advancing health equity for Roma people in Romania

Over the past few decades, scholars in the humanities and social sciences have increasingly interrogated the histories and legacies of violence against Romani people through critical, decolonial, feminist, and anti-racist lenses. Building on this body of research, this article examines continuities of anti-Roma racism in a specific place, Romania, and how they can help reproduce and shape health outcomes and inequities today. Using a critical analysis of Romanian laws, policies, literature, and public discourse, we propose the right to a remedy for past collective injustices faced by historically oppressed and racialized populations as a pathway to the full realization of the right to health in places marked by continuous collective injustices. We argue that the realization of the right to health must be understood and addressed beyond equal access and protections against violations of the right to health; it also requires addressing the legacies and persistence of anti-Roma racism and its long-term impacts on health, well-being, and quality of life, as well as addressing other enduring oppressions.