Guillaume Dominguez with AFP
modified to
7:20 p.m., December 08, 2022
Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that access to condoms would be free in pharmacies for young people aged 18 to 25 from January 1. “In pharmacies, condoms will be free for 18-25 year olds. It will start on January 1. It’s a small prevention revolution,” said the president during a session of the National Council for Refoundation (CNR). devoted to the health of young people in Fontaine-le-Comte near Poitiers in Vienne.
Condoms have already been reimbursed by Social Security on prescription from a doctor or midwife since December 10, 2018, an additional tool to fight against AIDS and sexually transmitted infections.
“A real subject” on the “sexual health” of young people
The measure concerns the delivery of boxes of 6, 12 or 24 condoms in pharmacies, the Ministry of Health had then detailed. Two brands of male condoms, “Eden” and “Sortez Couvert!”, are currently covered up to 60% by health insurance, the remaining 40% being covered by complementary health insurance for those who have it.
More broadly, Emmanuel Macron considered that “on the sexual health” of young people, “we have a real subject”. He notably mentioned the vaccination of adolescents – girls and boys – against papillomavirus infections, linked to the appearance of several cancers. “It’s a huge job of information. We have to get him back to school, we have to multiply ourselves and we’re going to make this investment,” he pleaded.
Free contraception for all women
“I do not exclude that we go towards compulsory vaccination when all this is installed and we have the right scientific recommendations,” he insisted. As for sex education, “we are not good at this subject. The reality is very, very far from the theory. We must reform our teachers much better on this subject, we must raise awareness”, argued the head of the ‘State.
Among the first interested parties, the measure is unanimous. “This is very good news because I find that the price can be excessive sometimes for something that you only use once”, notes a young student at the microphone of Europe 1. “It’s just more”, adds a young woman, “knowing that among women, we also have hygienic protections in our budget, so if the condoms are free, it’s even better”.
The Social Security budget bill adopted last week also provides for free emergency contraception for all women, without medical prescription. The text also made it possible to screen for certain sexually transmitted infections without a prescription for everyone, and free of charge for those under 26.