A survey carried out for the Union of Liberal Doctors (SML) reveals that 62% of French people are in favor of preventive consultations. These results confirm the point of view of the Union of Liberal Doctors, which is in favor of a profound change in the health system based on a preventive and local approach.
The French in favor of preventive consultations
The French would be in favor of the idea of setting up privileged appointments with their attending physician, “prevention consultations”, during which a regular check-up of their health capital would be carried out.
62% of them think that these “prevention consultations” would have a positive impact on health, because patients would be better informed (58% think that the public authorities do not communicate enough about prevention) and guided in their dietary practices or sports and would therefore fall ill less often.
During this survey, 58% of French people also declare that prevention would make it possible to make savings on the reimbursement of care and on the costs of illnesses. For example, 6 out of 10 French people think that reimbursing nicotine substitutes would cost less than treating lung cancer.
The French know how to preserve their health
According to the results of this survey, more than one in two French people consider that food, sleep and the serenity of the work environment are “very important” factors for staying in good health.
48% of French people and 59% of seniors think it is necessary not to consume harmful substances (alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, etc.).
On the other hand, the practice of a sport, although useful in the prevention of certain chronic diseases, is perceived as very important for health by only 39% of French people and especially by the youngest (44% of 18-34 year).
Finally, only 36% consider it very useful to limit exposure to pollution.
” These results allow us to confirm the interest of a health system favoring the accompaniment and the regular follow-up of the patients and a reflection centered on the prevention rather than a curative care. As close as possible to patients, liberal doctors have a driving and unifying role to play in this change. In this context, we are now involving in our reflections all the local players in the health system (patient association, pharmacists, nurses, etc.) with whom many of us are implementing initiatives in the field.“says Doctor Roger Rua, President of the Union of Liberal Doctors.
This survey was carried out on 1010 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over.
