In France, health inequalities have been widening for 30 years between cities and the countryside.
The gaps in life expectancy have worsened over the last thirty years between rural departments and urban departments, according to a new study conducted by the Association of Rural Mayors of France (AMRF) and the Macif group, in partnership with France Bleu, published on Wednesday 16 December.
Rural dwellers live two years less than city dwellers
Concretely, the inhabitants of rural areas live two years less than those of cities. More specifically: the inequality in life expectancy between rural and urban is 2.2 years for men, and 0.9 years for women. “The most surprising thing is the extreme regularity of the link between types of departments and life expectancy”, comments AMRF.
Residents of rural areas also consume 20% less hospital care than those in cities. Conversely, areas of high hospital care consumption correspond, with some exceptions, to urban areas and the traffic corridors connecting them. “Data mapping suggests a strong correlation with the absence of attending physicians: where there are no private physicians who screen and refer the patient to the hospital, fewer patients go to the hospital”, analyzes the association of rural mayors.
“Offering new solutions to the inhabitants of the rural world”
“The recent crisis has highlighted the importance of proximity in the organization of the health service. The State, entangled in its regional planning model, centered on the development of metropolises, continues to weaken the countryside with a lot of statistical arguments”judges the AMRF.
“Health democracy must be refounded on a real contradictory debate in order to offer new solutions to the inhabitants of the rural world. This is the purpose of the long-term study initiated by the AMRF, in order to provide rural elected representatives with new arguments in the face of centralizing dogma and to bring new data to the public debate in order to form an informed opinion on the reality of the French health disaster”, concludes the association.
