The Valls government will ultimately have no Secretary of State for Health. It is Marisol Touraine, alone, who will manage this portfolio.
It’s official. Marisol Touraine retains control over health. Contrary to certain rumors which had been circulating for a week, no minister delegate or secretary of state was finally appointed to this post. She had however declared, on I-tele on April 3, that she had no “opposition in principle” to the appointment, to her, of a secretary of state in charge of health. In 2012, she opposed it and wanted to keep control of health issues. “We must basically multiply our forces to meet daily needs”, agreed the Minister.
On the other hand, those who have listened to the secretary general of the Elysee say the names of the secretaries of state will have noted that the official title of the ministry has found the word “health”. Marisol Touraine is therefore Minister of Social Affairs and Health. Last week, doctors but also ordinary citizens were moved by the disappearance of the term “health”. The error is therefore corrected.
Marisol Touraine will therefore not be able to rely on a Secretary of State for Health to carry the national health strategy, or to ensure that savings do not weigh too heavily on the health sector. On the other hand, it will still be supported by two Secretaries of State. Laurence Rossignol is in charge of Families, the Elderly and Autonomy and Ségolène Neuville is appointed to the Secretary of State in charge of Disabled People and the fight against exclusion.
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