In chiaroscuro, this is how the face of France appears, or rather, its state of health, according to the latest report from the DREES (1). On the light side, the French are doing well, note your daily newspapers. Our life expectancy is increasing (79.2 years for men, 85.4 years for women). And the gap between the two sexes is tending to narrow, notes Le Figaro, around one year in ten years.
But the progress of medicine, the improvement of our diet or the hygiene of life do not benefit everyone in the same way. “Significant social disparities remain in health in France,” explains the report, which devotes several chapters to the darker part of our national health record. Thus, the gap in life expectancy at age 35 between a senior executive and a worker remains significant: 6.2 years. Moreover, the latter enters the dependency 7 years earlier than the first.
These disparities arise from the earliest stages of life. “The children of workers are 10 times more likely to be obese than the children of executives”, comments the Ministry of Health in a press release. These inequalities will even lodge in the teeth. More than one out of two children (53%) belonging to an underprivileged social category has at least one cavity, compared to 26% for the son or daughter of a manager.
Same difference if we compare the practice of physical activity in adulthood (27% against 54%).
Faced with this relentless observation which marks the failure of the political class in its successive reforms, Marisol Touraine intends to “quickly engage, with professionals, in this structuring reform of our health system”. Generous words, but which contradict actions. Last September, the government and the Health Insurance announced the abolition of oral prevention programs in schools!
(1) The state of health of the population in France – 2015 edition, Department of research, studies, evaluation and statistics
