Bonjour! For this week we will be covering the country France. France has already accomplished a few targets already. Let’s take a look! Within the sustainable development goals, they have achieved a high standard of living and quality of life, unemployment rate has gone down to 10.2% which is below average, and they have developed a social security system that protects people living in France from social risks. Although they have done a lot, there is still more to be done to accomplish SDG 3, good health and well-being. Some of the goals they would like to complete or at least improve by 2030 are “Maintain a high level of healthy, long life expectancy and well-being, achieve universal health coverage and easy access to healthcare, eradicate environmental health risk inequalities, work to end the major epidemics (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria), and achieve equal access for all to healthcare and health services.” (Sustainable Development goals, 2016).
Some of the actions they have taken to implement these targets are in the following ways: The government in France has started making savings, in order to be able to reimburse social security accounts which will allow people so seek healthcare and in the future lower the price of medicine for people to have access to them. They also have the regional healthcare pact, which launched in December back in 2012, the exciting part about this is that it promotes doctors to establish their offices in underserved area. This is great because there are many communities who are unable to seek medical attention due to the fact many clinics are far away. France is also part of the global fun to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
They know how important it is to continue to fund these types of organizations to continue to fight against these diseases and lower them as well. From 2017 to 2019, France has donated 1.08 billion euros to this organization. They have also contributed to “GAVI, the vaccine alliance about 465 million euros between 2016 and 2017.” (France Diplomatie). They would also like to provide services to maternal, child, and teens which is why they have created different healthcare services as well as contributed 500 million euros. To keep track of their progress, France is working towards creating indicators that will monitor and track the SDG’s. They will be authorized by the UN General Assembly sometime in the future.
France has established the Healthcare innovation investment fund; they have a budget of 340 million euros which will go towards to creating projects and promoting healthcare innovations. This will also go towards the Strategic Advisory Board on the Health Industries to “disseminate innovations and monitor antibiotic resistance.” (Sustainable Development Goals, 2016). They also face challenges, like climate change, that can affect the health of many. Because of this, they have implemented the National Environmental Health Plan, this plan is designed to reduce air and water pollution. This SDG is an issue and a priority for the country which is why they are relying on other resources to reach SDG3. One of the is the Health Act, which was created by the French public health agency, this health act wants to increase patients’ rights and safety. What does this mean? It means that any information pertaining to the patients will remain confidential, this will build trust among the patients encouraging them to seek medical attention. They also have protection for all, which is known as PUMA, this guarantees health care coverage for working residents if they were to get sick or pregnant. If France continues to implement these strategies, as well as new ones they will be able to reach their goal and improve the health of many.
Sources:
Sustainable Development Goals. (2016) Report on the Implementation by France [PDF file]. Retrieved from
Ministére de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères. (n.d). SDG 3.
Good helath and well-being. Retrieved from
Universal health protection (PUMa), a system available to expats residing in France. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Images:
Kembaren04, A. (n.d.). Map of France - France Tourist Map, Free Transparent Clipart - ClipartKey. Retrieved from
Diplomacy, F. (2018, July 24). #AIDS2018 | France participates in the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam (23-27 July).Retrieved from
Gavi Image (2016). Retrieved from