Invited Tuesday, November 27 on France Inter, the Minister of Solidarity and Health Agnès Buzyn announced that a brand of male condoms will be reimbursed by Social Security on medical prescription from December 10.
To be prescribed a box of condoms by your attending physician and to be partially reimbursed by health insurance: this will be possible from December 10th. Here is the announcement made by Agnès Buzyn on Tuesday 27 November.
Guest of the France Inter morning show, the Minister of Solidarity and Health announced that the High Authority for Health (HAS) had just issued a favorable opinion for the reimbursement by Health Insurance of a brand of male condoms . Its objective: to strengthen the fight against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Strengthen the fight against STIs
This measure, announced four days before World AIDS Day, which will be held on 1er December, was designed to strengthen the fight against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and complements the 5 million condoms distributed each year free of charge by the public authorities.
“It’s one more chance for some to access it”, estimates Agnès Buzyn who recalls that the price of a box of condoms sometimes remains too high: on average 16 euros for a box of 40 condoms, or about 40 cents the unit.
This measure is aimed particularly at teenagers. “Each year we discover about 6,000 new HIV infections, especially among young people. They often use condoms for their first sexual intercourse, but not in the following acts” details the Minister of Health, who estimates that “buying a box at 3, 4, 5 euros, it has a cost for a teenager”. The latter will notably be able to be prescribed condoms during a free prevention consultation recently created for 15-17 year olds.
A single brand reimbursed by Social Security
For the moment, only one brand of condoms is concerned by the reimbursement: the Eden brand, marketed by the French laboratory Majorelle, which was the first to make the request before the High Authority for Health. “Other brands will probably also benefit from a refund” estimates a connoisseur of the file interviewed by The Parisian. Reimbursed at a rate of 60%, the box of 6 Eden condoms is sold at 1.30 euros including tax, that of 12 condoms at 2.60 euros and that of 24 at 5.20 euros. The difference may be covered by certain complementary health insurance.
Satisfied associations
For associations fighting against sexually transmitted infections, and in particular HIV, Agnès Buzyn’s announcement is a step in the right direction. It is an excellent decision, it corresponds to one of our historical claims, welcomes in The Parisian Aurélien Beaucamp, president of the AIDES association. “But there is a downside. People have to go to the doctor to get their prescription, and some more marginal populations may not want to go,” he says.
Asked by The world, Jacques Battistoni, the president of MG France, the first union of general practitioners, believes that “this possibility of prescription is a good idea which corresponds to a certain number of situations for adolescents”.
Currently, 15-29 year olds account for 78% of chlamydia infections, 65% of gonococcal infections and 33% of reported syphilis cases. They also represent almost a quarter of the nearly 6,000 new cases of HIV seropositivity discovered each year.
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