In five years in France, the number of children who come to see Doctors of the World health centers has increased by 70%. A third of them require urgent care.
On the eve of the World Day for the Rejection of Poverty, the report by Médecins du Monde (MdM) falls like a stone in the pond: one in ten people who visit the 20 treatment centers of the NGO in France is a child. Their number has increased by nearly 70% since 2007. “This increase is much more marked than that of all patients,” indicates Dr. Jean-François Corty, head of the MdM mission in France. These children represent in all 12.5% of the active file of patients who come to consult us ”. The vast majority of these minors are foreigners, but 50% of them come from European countries. And 65% of these children have lived in France for less than a year.
Another striking figure, half of these children who arrive in the reception, care and guidance centers of the NGO are under 6 years old. A worrying figure because it should be remembered that the maternal and child protection centers (PMI) provide free consultations and medico-social prevention actions for all children from birth to 6 years old, regardless of the presence of a child. social security coverage or a residence permit. “This difficulty of access to rights for children is a good illustration of the gap that exists between theoretical law and the application of this right. This difficulty is also found in precarious adult populations ”, underlines Dr. Jean-François Corty.
Listen to Dr Jean-François Corty, head of the Médecins du Monde mission in France. ” Half of the children are under 6 years old, and these children have very poor vaccine coverage, especially against tetanus poliio dyphteria, or measles, mumps, rubella. “
In France, access to the rights of minors is in principle unconditional. All foreign minors are eligible for AME as soon as they arrive in the country, “even if their parents are not eligible for AME. However, in reality, only 11% of minors have health coverage during their first visit to MdM care centers.
The delay in seeking care affects a third of minors, according to Jean-François Corty, who recalls that the proportion is even higher among adults. 45% of pregnant women consult late.
Elisten to Dr Jean-François Corty. ” 43% of the people we see in the centers have delayed their care. “
32.4% of children require urgent or fairly urgent care at the time of their consultation. In 2012, more than 3,100 minors benefited from 4,900 medical consultations in MDM’s care centers. “They mainly suffer from respiratory pathologies in 56% of cases, far ahead of digestive and dermatological problems,” notes Dr. Jean-François Corty. Lastly, 28% of children under two show signs of undernutrition. “The situation of these children is an indicator which marks the seriousness of the precariousness, alarms the person in charge of the mission France of Médecins du Monde. It requires us to be more rigorous, more innovative, more proactive, in our public policies to ensure that the most vulnerable are better supported in our society ”
Listen to Dr Jean-François Corty. ” Access to rights must be simplified, by merging the AME and the CMU, ensuring that there are more mobile devices offering care. “
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