According to the OECD, France consumes fewer drugs than its neighbors. However, the arrival of very expensive treatments on the market could increase costs.
Ultimately, the French are not the world champions of health spending. An OECD report published this Wednesday reviews certain received ideas on the pharmaceutical industry, the consumption of drugs and the health budget of the member countries of the organization.
On average, health spending by different countries amounts to 8.9% of their GDP. France is only slightly above, at 10.9% of GDP. However, this system weighs little on the personal finances of the French compared to other countries. Only 7% of expenditure remains the responsibility of patients, compared to 20% on average in the OECD.
Drug prices
The annual amount spent per person in France, for the purchase of drugs, is close to what is done in other countries. A French person will spend the equivalent of 596 dollars (547 euros) over the year, or 96 dollars (88 euros) more than the average announced in the report.
And, contrary to the clichés often conveyed about the country, the French consume less drugs than others. On antidepressants, they are far from being the first consumers, and are below the average dose of 58 units of drugs, defined per 1,000 inhabitants. The same goes for drugs against high blood pressure or statins: France is one of the ten countries which consume the least.
Risk of explosion
The OECD explains that the passage of certain patents in the public domain, for certain drugs, made it possible to slow down the rise in prices charged by the pharmaceutical industry. However, in France, the generic market is still underdeveloped. These represent only 30% of drugs sold, compared to 48% on average in the OECD. A trend that perhaps explains why the French spend a little more than the average for their drugs.
In the long term, the economic situation favorable to consumers, with a limited rise in prices, could be reversed. The Organization especially warns against the possible increase in expenditure, due to the arrival on the market of new hyper-specialized treatments, very expensive, for serious diseases.
The controversy is already raging on the price of the treatment of certain cancers, in particular in the United States. Between the early 2000s and now, the median price of cancer treatment has doubled, from $ 5,000 to $ 10,000. As for the prices of hepatitis treatments, they have increased six-fold over the past two decades.
The authors of the report estimate that this trend will increase in the years to come, especially as the population ages, more and more patients will need some of these drugs. In France, Sovaldi against hepatitis C, or Truvada, an effective antiretroviral against HIV, weigh heavily on social security expenses. A situation that could quickly increase the bill, and make the price of drugs unsustainable for many health systems.
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