Yasmina Kattou / Credits: Fred DUFOUR / AFP
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08:06, March 12, 2024
Emmanuel Macron announced that he wanted to change the law on the end of life, by opening “assisted death”, under strict conditions. The bill also includes a component to strengthen palliative care. Currently, two thirds of French people do not have access to this care and 21 departments are still completely without it.
France lagging behind on palliative care. Emmanuel Macron announced that he wanted to change the law on the end of life, by opening “assisted death”, under strict conditions. The bill also includes strengthening palliative care. Currently, two thirds of French people do not have access to these treatments and only 30% of patients in need of this care can benefit from it according to the associations. “Over the entire period, we are going to invest a billion euros more,” announced the head of state.
The Ardennes, the Pyrénées-Orientales, or even Corrèze: all these departments do not have a palliative care unit. Patients are cared for by mobile teams or in hospital in a non-specialized department. Degraded care, not being up to the treatment that patients could benefit from. “Certain treatments cannot necessarily be provided and the expertise will not necessarily be good. For pain, we use analgesics but some are only controlled in university hospitals,” regrets Olivier Polidori, doctor in a mobile palliative care team in Indre.
7,500 beds dedicated to people at the end of their lives
In France, 7,500 beds are dedicated to caring for people at the end of their lives. This represents 2.8 beds per 100,000 inhabitants. At least 5 beds per 100,000 inhabitants would be needed to meet needs.