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| France in denial over alcohol abuse, says health minister | France in denial over alcohol abuse, says health minister |
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| France must do more to tackle alcohol abuse and smoking, the country’s health minister has said. | France must do more to tackle alcohol abuse and smoking, the country’s health minister has said. |
| Marisol Touraine said France was renowned for its healthcare but needed to do more in terms of preventing diseases. She said there was a very French form of denial over the hazards of alcohol, which is believed to cause an estimated 50,000 premature deaths a year in France. | Marisol Touraine said France was renowned for its healthcare but needed to do more in terms of preventing diseases. She said there was a very French form of denial over the hazards of alcohol, which is believed to cause an estimated 50,000 premature deaths a year in France. |
| Touraine also said the number of French women who smoke – and particularly those who continue to do so in the last three months of pregnancy – as well as the number of young and poor who light up was worrying. | Touraine also said the number of French women who smoke – and particularly those who continue to do so in the last three months of pregnancy – as well as the number of young and poor who light up was worrying. |
| I'm French, I like to drink a glass of wine … but the wine and alcohol lobby in France is powerful | I'm French, I like to drink a glass of wine … but the wine and alcohol lobby in France is powerful |
| Touraine said figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development showed the French consume an average 12 litres of pure alcohol a year, equivalent to about 120 bottles of wine, compared with a European average of 9.1 litres. | |
| “I’m French, I like to drink a glass of wine … but the wine and alcohol lobby in France is powerful and has got into people’s heads that wine is good for the health, which remains to be proven,” she told journalists from the Anglo-American Press Association in Paris. “We drink less than 30 years ago, but still above the European average.” | “I’m French, I like to drink a glass of wine … but the wine and alcohol lobby in France is powerful and has got into people’s heads that wine is good for the health, which remains to be proven,” she told journalists from the Anglo-American Press Association in Paris. “We drink less than 30 years ago, but still above the European average.” |
| The French government is battling attempts to water down a 1991 law that imposed restrictions on alcohol advertising. Touraine said the new challenge was “disguised advertising”, citing a 2013 ruling that fined Paris Match for an article on the Hollywood actor Scarlett Johansson’s deal with a celebrated French champagne house. | The French government is battling attempts to water down a 1991 law that imposed restrictions on alcohol advertising. Touraine said the new challenge was “disguised advertising”, citing a 2013 ruling that fined Paris Match for an article on the Hollywood actor Scarlett Johansson’s deal with a celebrated French champagne house. |
| “So we see Mademoiselle Scarlett Johansson stretched out on a red sofa looking every bit the star she is, with a bottle in front of her on which we can see the brand label. The judges decided this was disguised advertising and should not be in a magazine, and it’s claimed this threatens France’s champagne industry,“ Touraine said. “It’s just crazy. I’m not trying to harden the law, I’m saying don’t touch it.” | |
| There will be a debate about wine in parliament at 4am and you think all the MPs will be asleep, but no, they turn up | |
| Touraine, 56, whose broad portfolio in François Hollande’s Socialist government covers social affairs, health and women’s rights, said: “There’s a form of denial over this. In all my political career, I’ve never known such passion over a subject. There will be a debate about wine in parliament at 4am and you think all the MPs will be at home asleep, but no, they turn up. It’s a very French debate.” | Touraine, 56, whose broad portfolio in François Hollande’s Socialist government covers social affairs, health and women’s rights, said: “There’s a form of denial over this. In all my political career, I’ve never known such passion over a subject. There will be a debate about wine in parliament at 4am and you think all the MPs will be at home asleep, but no, they turn up. It’s a very French debate.” |
| France is to force tobacco companies to use plain packaging from 2016 in attempt to reduce the number of smokers. After successful campaigns to discourage smoking in the 1990s, the proportion of the population using tobacco rose to 30% between 2000 and 2013, Touraine said. She cited the success of Britain in reducing smoking levels to around 20% of over-15s. | France is to force tobacco companies to use plain packaging from 2016 in attempt to reduce the number of smokers. After successful campaigns to discourage smoking in the 1990s, the proportion of the population using tobacco rose to 30% between 2000 and 2013, Touraine said. She cited the success of Britain in reducing smoking levels to around 20% of over-15s. |
| “There are three categories we have to tackle: women, because there is an increase in the number of female smokers, and France has the highest number who smoke in the last trimester of pregnancy; the young and the poor. I don’t like introducing bans, but sometimes they are necessary,” she said. | “There are three categories we have to tackle: women, because there is an increase in the number of female smokers, and France has the highest number who smoke in the last trimester of pregnancy; the young and the poor. I don’t like introducing bans, but sometimes they are necessary,” she said. |
| Touraine is trying to push through health reforms but there have been protests by GPs, hospital doctors and other health workers. The minister said France’s much-admired but costly health and social security system – the latter is deeply in the red – needed reorganising not just to make savings but to respond to changing public needs and demands. | Touraine is trying to push through health reforms but there have been protests by GPs, hospital doctors and other health workers. The minister said France’s much-admired but costly health and social security system – the latter is deeply in the red – needed reorganising not just to make savings but to respond to changing public needs and demands. |
| “There is a great malaise among GPs but that’s not my fault. I’m just the one who is uncovering it, the one saying you have to change the way you work,” Touraine said. “I think much of the opposition is based on the conservatism and opposition to change that is sometimes characteristic in France.” | “There is a great malaise among GPs but that’s not my fault. I’m just the one who is uncovering it, the one saying you have to change the way you work,” Touraine said. “I think much of the opposition is based on the conservatism and opposition to change that is sometimes characteristic in France.” |
| She said she was shocked by the virulence and “extreme violence” of the personal attacks, and claimed that “insidious sexism” lay behind it. | She said she was shocked by the virulence and “extreme violence” of the personal attacks, and claimed that “insidious sexism” lay behind it. |
| “We have to fight against it permanently but I have never played the [female] victim card and I will not do so. I do think some people believe I will give in more easily because I’m a woman, and the fact I am determined and strong annoys them even more. But I am not afraid. | “We have to fight against it permanently but I have never played the [female] victim card and I will not do so. I do think some people believe I will give in more easily because I’m a woman, and the fact I am determined and strong annoys them even more. But I am not afraid. |
| “I stand up to my responsibilities and I believe that makes me respected in my dealings with the medical unions and even in political circles. People may like me or they may not, but at least I am respected.” | “I stand up to my responsibilities and I believe that makes me respected in my dealings with the medical unions and even in political circles. People may like me or they may not, but at least I am respected.” |