Nicolas Sarkozy: “Everyone must be responsible for their health”

While the right and center primary for the presidential election will take place on November 20 and 27, the time for the first of three television debates is fast approaching. With a river duration of 2h30, it will take place on October 13 on TF1, RTL, Public Senate and LCI. It will see the seven competitors compete against each other on the themes of unemployment and security. And what about health?

In a recent poll, 69% of French people make this theme a major element of the campaign. And almost the same proportion of those questioned considers that the positions of the candidates on health policy will be decisive in their choice.
To meet the expectations of future voters, the drafting of Why actor interviewed all candidates by asking them the same questions. This Wednesday, the series ends with the former President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy. Does the person who claims that he will give “Everything for France” have the same ambition for the French health system? Crisis of PH in the hospital, place in complementary, medical deserts, the candidate for a second presidential term fixes its broad outlines.

The community will no longer be able to cover the cost of innovative drugs. Should we devote a specific budget to the support of these therapies, and how to finance it?
Nicolas sarkozy : I have always been convinced of the need for France to remain a land of innovation and research. Our country is one of the largest nations, particularly in terms of medical research and therapeutic innovation. I hope it stays that way. However, the government has not taken the measure of the stakes. The current degenerative disease plan has no consistency or guidelines. The European ambition has been abandoned. I am therefore convinced that there is an urgent need to relaunch Alzheimer’s and cancer plans, worthy of the name. France, which was at the head of the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, has relapsed into the most complete anonymity. We must reconnect with voluntarism. I will add an “Autism” plan which will be launched in 2017. Autism is a tragedy. We must help these families whose daily life is turned upside down by the gravity of the pathology from which their children are suffering.
Within the framework of these great plans, the assumption of responsibility for these therapies cannot be neglected. In this project, the health industries represent a strategic issue for France. It is also through them that the revival of ambitious medical innovation policies will pass. The coming five-year period will thus be an opportunity for the implementation of an industrial health policy in which French excellence will once again be a priority objective, both in terms of research, development and clinical trials. This is why I would like to see a system in place for monitoring and evaluating “real life” new drugs so that we can better assess their effectiveness and further stimulate medical research.

Supported I want to promote prevention through individual responsibility.

The complementary health insurance is committed to an insurance model à la carte. Should we financially encourage policyholders who have a healthy lifestyle (diet, physical activity, etc.) and / or penalize those who take risks (alcohol, tobacco, etc.)?
Nicolas sarkozy : Prevention will be a priority objective in the years to come. I want to promote prevention through individual responsibility and through clearly defined priorities. Prevention will go through an individual contract between each social insured, health insurance and its mutual. The implementation of a lifelong prevention program meets this ambition. Everyone should be responsible for their health.

Hospital I would like health establishments to have more autonomy (…) The counterpart will be the balance of accounts.

The hospital must simultaneously reconcile medical excellence with its social missions. In view of the budgetary constraints, does activity-based pricing (T2A) appear to you to be suited to this dual requirement?
Nicolas sarkozy : Basically, in the context of budget constraints, your question relates more broadly to the model we want for the public hospital. Just like what has been done for the universities, I want to free the public hospital from constraints, supervision and red tape. In the hospital, bureaucracy has taken too much of a place.
The current framework limits initiatives on the ground. On the contrary, I would like health establishments to have more autonomy to manage staffing, remuneration, working hours and inter-establishment cooperation. The counterpart will be the balance of accounts. It is also an issue of access to care and the quality of the care provided.

Medical deserts I agree to return to the mandatory third party payment.

One in four general practitioners will not be replaced by 2025. How do you plan to fight against medical deserts?
Nicolas sarkozy : I am convinced of the urgency to give back all its place to liberal medicine of proximity. François Hollande’s five-year term will have been marked by the desire to “make doctors official” by imposing on them new conditions of practice that I consider dangerous. Marisol Touraine’s law is, in many ways, the expression of this policy.
On the contrary, I believe in the need to propose a “liberal medicine law 2020” which responds to the major current and future challenges. Patients and their families want access to doctors closest to them. This requires reforms to regain the attractiveness of this sector to meet the need for proximity. I am therefore committed to returning to compulsory third-party payment, to promoting all administrative simplification actions that unnecessarily require medical time, to encourage collective exercise and to review the levels and methods of remuneration. Finally, I want medical training to include more practice in a doctor’s office. This will make it possible to raise students’ awareness of the challenges of the profession and also to give birth to vocations.

Assisted reproduction Put in place legal locks to completely prohibit surrogacy (surrogacy).

In a manifesto, French doctors admitted having helped lesbian couples and single women to resort to assisted reproduction abroad. Can we continue to reserve it for heterosexual couples?
Nicolas sarkozy : Filiation is an eminently delicate subject because it touches on the complexity of human relations. I do not wish to initiate a change in legislation. Medically assisted procreation must continue to remedy infertility which has been medically diagnosed to be pathological. Finally, I consider it essential to put in place the necessary and essential legal obstacles to completely prohibit surrogacy (surrogacy). The texts must be clear, in order to avoid any ambiguity on parentage.