The city of Strasbourg has extended its “free sport on prescription” system to HIV carriers. This new measure potentially concerns nearly a thousand Strasbourg residents.
Since Thursday, Strasbourg residents living with HIV will be able to take advantage of the “free sport under prescription” system, set up in the Alsatian capital since the end of 2012. This measure initiated by the City of Strasbourg on the occasion of the World Day against AIDS, would potentially concern nearly a thousand Strasbourg residents diagnosed with HIV, according to estimates Dr Alexandre Feltz, deputy mayor in charge of health.
Major factor of social integration
Those affected will be able to register for free in many sports activities such as cycling or swimming during the first year. They will then have to pay between 20 euros and 100 euros, depending on their income. This price range takes into account the precariousness “very important among HIV-positive people,” said Dr Feltz. To explain the interest of expanding this system, Dr Feltz and Dr Marialuisa Partisani, president of Corevih Alsace (regional coordination for the fight against HIV) focus on metabolic complications and the risks cardiovascular disease which is more important in people with HIV.
The two doctors also underline the strong impact in terms of “social integration” of such a measure. Participants will be able to join groups of “sports patients” suffering from other chronic pathologies such as obesity or diabetes. Dr Feltz specifies, however, that patients will of course be completely free to disclose or not the nature of their disease.
A system adopted in around fifteen towns in France
Strasbourg is the first city to have adopted the “free sport on prescription” system. In the space of four years, the Alsace Regional Health Agency identified 1,500 participants, 900 of whom are still active today. The beneficiaries are mainly women (70%). Since 2012, some fifteen cities in France have followed Strasbourg’s example, including Nice, which will benefit from this device from 2017. The cities of Carcassonne and Angers are also thinking of following suit.
The amendment on medical prescription for sport was definitively adopted on November 27 as part of the new Health Law. However, this device only applies to people with chronic pathologies or long-term illnesses. The others will therefore have to wait a bit to be prescribed a sporting activity by their doctor.
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