Marisol Touraine presented her health strategy for the Overseas Territories on Wednesday. A plan made up of 62 actions that adapts to the specificities of these territories.
Overseas territories, such as Guadeloupe or Martinique, are experiencing their own difficulties, which are not found in mainland France. Birth-related risks, which weigh both on the child and on the mother, obesity and overweight affect populations more severely and lead to a high prevalence of diabetes, kidney and heart failure and strokes.
Finally, the risks associated with sexually transmitted diseases or addictive behavior are also higher.
Faced with this observation, Marisol Touraine presented her health strategy for these territories on Wednesday. This plan, made up of 5 axes and 62 actions, adapts to the geographical, human and organizational specificities of these territories, she promises.
40 million euros for prevention
According to the Minister of Health, the roadmap and its actions have been validated by the Regional Health and Autonomy Conferences (CRSA). The first axis carried by the tenant of the avenue Duquesne (Paris) consists in reinforcing the prevention to better fight against the inequalities of health. There are, for example, several new measures aimed at reducing the share of preventable maternal deaths, “in particular by strengthening the monitoring of high-risk pregnancies for very young women or those suffering from diabetes or hypertension”.
“To ensure the proper deployment of these measures, I have chosen, despite the constrained financial context which invites us to limit our expenses, to guarantee the envelope of 40 million euros per year allocated to prevention within the framework of funds for regional intervention”, declared Marisol Touraine. In this sense, a ministerial decree was also published on Tuesday in the Official Journal. It limits the maximum content of added sugar in local products distributed exclusively in these territories.
The second axis of the plan, “is the improvement of monitoring, evaluation and management of health risks”, she added. On the basis of initiatives in the field, it will thus develop plans for the prevention and fight against zoonotic diseases and malaria. The regional health agencies should, for example, continue to train their agents in the management of alerts and crises and develop their own information systems.
20 million euros for autonomy
Finally, in a third axis, Marisol Touraine indicated that she wanted to support the field of autonomy. She notably mentioned projects, “ready to go out” but condemned to wait for lack of funding. She cited the medico-educational institute of Saint-Laurent du Maroni, or projects in Mayotte and Saint-Martin being developed.
“The President of the Republic announced last week an envelope of 180 million euros allocated to the creation of new solutions. I can already announce to you that at least 20 million euros will be devoted to the overseas territories and to these projects ready to see the light of day”, she specified. In this regard, she promised to strengthen the early detection and management of disabilities. The role of the regional birth and perinatal commission will therefore be strengthened.
Strengthen the efficiency of the health system
On this subject, Marisol Touraine indicated that everything will be put in place to strengthen the medical presence and promote coordinated multidisciplinary exercise.
In addition, she maintained that, to strengthen the hospital system, the model for financing health establishments must be reviewed “to better take into account the additional costs specific to Overseas Territories”.
According to her, the harmful effects of activity-based pricing (T2A) observed at the national level are even greater in the overseas territories. From this year, mechanisms for financing isolated activities and taking better account of support for precariousness will therefore be applied overseas.
Concretely, these are additional financial means for local hospitals. “I want to continue this movement and go even further: I will take a measure in the coming months to better take into account the additional costs overseas. This measure will come into force next year,” concluded Marisol Touraine.
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