Not enough measures, and too inefficient: such is the assessment of the Court of Auditors on the successive policies of fight against the harmful consumption of alcohol in France.
By its own admission, the Court of Auditors is tackling “a sensitive subject in France”. While there are many of them, alcohol is not the least. Associated with a festive environment, a French way of life and culture, it poses a problem in the country with 8.8 million regular consumers.
Alcohol is thus the second cause of preventable death. Faced with this, public health measures have followed one another with questionable effectiveness. But the Sages of rue Cambon underline the “general tolerance towards alcohol consumption” which complicates the implementation of sustainable policies. His report, not very complimentary to successive governments, proposes a new framework.
Poorly coordinated services
The initial observation is harsh with regard to the authorities responsible for setting the political course. The Court of Auditors notes the lack of coordination between the various players, the “vagueness” of interministerial steering, and poorly targeted funding. “The governance shared at the local level between the prefect and the regional health agency (…) is a source of inconsistency”, adds the report.
The list of criticisms does not end there. Les Sages de la rue Cambon denounce the lack of reliable data on mortality and morbidity attributable to alcohol. “The overall economic assessment of harmful alcohol consumption is not posed in a calm manner”, they establish. Some actors put forward economic interests, others public health and come into conflict.
The report does not fail to highlight the frequent disagreements between the various associations in the sector: the National Association for the Prevention of Alcoholology and Addictology (ANPAA), the Coordination of associations and mutual aid movements recognized as being of public utility (CAMERUP ), let ‘association With moderation which brings together alcohol producers.
A general cacophony with dramatic consequences for research: the data is limited to those transmitted by the hospital. City medicine is totally excluded. The balance sheet is not improved by the credits granted to addictology and to the work that it could launch: here too, France is lagging behind its European neighbors.
Unsuitable tools
These structural weaknesses do not help in the development of a sound policy. The Court of Auditors affirms it, “the State has not given itself the means to curb risky behavior”. And to chip away at the sectors in which measures could have been taken. Distribution regulations are no longer adapted to current consumption patterns. While take-out represents 60% of sales, only 17% of controls are concentrated there. Miners can therefore easily fall through the cracks – as long as the seller is flexible.
Flexibility is also the term that emerges when the Sages of rue Cambon evoke the Evin law of 1991. This text “has long been the international benchmark model for restrictions on advertising in favor of alcoholic beverages at the international level. , they concede. Successive modifications have reduced its effectiveness. “
The lack of control on the Internet, the weak supervision of pressure groups and the favorable tax regime vis-à-vis wine and rum only serve to darken an already bleak picture.
But the report is not satisfied with that. He drives home the point by highlighting the decline in alcohol tests while driving, which are too heavy, the absence of any measure of the effectiveness of prevention in schools … and the low involvement of general practitioners in screening for drug dependence. alcohol.
Immediate fines
The Court of Auditors therefore calls for “collective awareness” on the subject of alcohol. It calls for “a unified policy” to fight against alcohol abuse and suggests three main directions to the State for this. A sustainable program must be put in place and steered by the Prime Minister’s office. Its impact will be regularly assessed. The second axis of the plan proposed by the Sages of rue Cambon consists of strengthening awareness of consumption through information and prevention.
Finally, the report proposes to renovate and strengthen the measures that exist but are not working. Thus, he suggests the restriction of advertising on all digital media and the extension of an immediate fine for people whose blood alcohol level exceeds 1.2 grams per liter of blood.
.
