For lack of health education, France is paying a heavy price compared to its European neighbors. The High Public Health Committee for raising awareness at school.
“France is paying dearly for its weaknesses in education and health promotion! “The finding is already known but it is a real cry of alarm launched on Wednesday by the High Council of Public Health, the body responsible for evaluating public health plans in France.
“In France, the number of preventable premature deaths in men is 92 per 100,000 per year, while in Sweden it is 40 per 100,000, and in the United Kingdom at 50 per 100,000,” said Professor Didier Jourdan, vice-president of the Prevention, Education and Health Promotion Commission at the HCSP. “On the scale of our population, this represents nearly 65,000 preventable deaths. Our country is truly in a critical situation from this point of view ”.
Listen to Professor Didier Jourdan, member of the High Council of Public Health: ” In France, the indicators linked to preventable premature mortality are the worst compared to our European neighbors. “
School health education
To reverse the trend, France must make a real effort in terms of prevention and health promotion. The HCSP, which is actively participating in the debate in view of the health law announced by Marisol Touraine for the end of spring 2014, wants the authorities to focus on health education at school.
Glaring social inequalities
“Behaviors that have an impact on health are caught very early on, and they quickly generate inequalities,” recalls Professor Didier Jourdan. Recent studies have shown that from the fifth grade, obesity varies from 1 to 7 between the children of managers and the children of workers. “It is for these reasons that the HCSP recommends setting up an education and awareness program from kindergarten to middle school, adapted to the issues of each age, dealing in particular with hygiene of life, domestic safety, nutrition, sexuality and addictions.
Listen to Professor Didier Jourdan : ” Health inequalities due to behavior set in very early. “
Reorganize school medicine
The HCSP also wishes to reorganize the missions and work of school medicine. “In France, a health check is compulsory at the start of schooling, at 6 years old, but only 65% of children benefit from it”, underlines Professor Didier Jourdan. National Education medicine has only 1,500 doctors and 7,500 nurses.
“The missions of school medicine are too broad and unsuited both to the human resources currently available and to the challenges of prevention, education and student care” recognizes Professor Didier Jourdan, who pleads for the 840,000 teachers participate in health education work.
The Minister of Health has already announced that the national health strategy will focus on prevention. “The health of young people will be one of the public health priorities,” she said on September 23. It remains to be seen whether the recommendations of the HCSP will be fully taken into account in the future health law.
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