E/C.12/MKD/CO/2-4 Right to adequate food 43. The Committee is concerned at the high proportion of household budgets spent on food. It is also concerned at the high malnutrition rates among Roma children and children living in rural areas. It notes the prevalence of nutrition-related diseases, including obesity and micronutrient deficiencies (art. 11). 44. The Committee recommends that the State party take the steps necessary to protect the right to adequate food, including the adoption of a national strategy. The State party’s attention is drawn to general comment No. 12 (1999) on the right to adequate food and the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Right to housing 45. The Committee is concerned at the lack of effective measures to provide social housing for disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and families and at the large proportion of the population, particularly Roma families, living in informal settlements in poor living conditions with limited access to basic services and infrastructure, health care and education. It is also concerned about the poor living conditions in which the internally displaced persons continue to live in collective centres, and that Roma families living in informal settlements are under constant threat of eviction owing to the lack of legal security of tenure (art. 11). 46. The Committee recommends that the State party take all the measures necessary to provide affordable social housing units for disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and families, including especially Roma families, and to improve living conditions in informal settlements and collective centres. It also recommends that the State party take concrete steps to guarantee security of tenure for all residents of informal settlements, particularly Roma, and to provide them with such assistance as may be required to enable them to benefit from the Law on the Legalization of Illegally Constructed Buildings of 2011. The Committee urges the State party to adopt a legal framework establishing procedures to be followed in the case of evictions that is in line with the international standards and guidelines contained in general comment No. 7 (1997) on the right to adequate housing: forced evictions. Access to health-care services 47. The Committee is concerned at the insufficient funding allocated to the health sector, the shortage of qualified medical professionals and the inadequate coverage and benefits under the Health Insurance Fund, which result in limited access to health-care services, particularly for Roma and those living in rural areas. It is also concerned that some private health-service providers charge fees for services that should be provided free of charge, as stipulated by the licensing agreements under which they operate (art. 12). 48. The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to ensure that primary health-care services are available and accessible to all regardless of geographical location, including by allocating adequate funding to the health services, securing a sufficient number of qualified medical professionals and expanding the coverage and the benefits under the Health Insurance Fund. It urges the State party to put an immediate end to the practice of illegally charging fees and to monitor the compliance of private health-service providers with the licensing agreements under which they operate. 9

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