Faced with the coronavirus epidemic which has already killed 562 people in the country, France is managing the emergency: equipping its caregivers with masks and stemming the ever-increasing number of hospitalizations.
In ten years, the country has reduced its stock of protective masks to a minimum in order to rationalize costs, relying on imports and its own productive capacity to react effectively in the event of an epidemic ... provided you anticipate.
2011: lessons from H1N1
Almost two years after the start of the A (H1N1) flu epidemic, the state services are questioning their management of the crisis. A controversy had erupted around the massive order for 94 million doses of vaccine, while only six million were ultimately used. The mask inventory is then at its zenith: almost a billion surgical masks and more than 700 million FFP2 models, offering better protection. But storing these boxes in a large hangar in Vitry-le-François (Marne) comes at a cost, knowing that the masks will expire little by little, after 4 or 5 years.
Referred by the General Directorate of Health, the High Council for Public Health recommends, in an opinion delivered on July 1, 2011, to constitute "a revolving stock", composed of both surgical masks and FFP2. Under these conditions, the EPRUS (Establishment for preparing and responding to health emergencies), created in 2007 and now part of the Public Health Agency, is starting to no longer renew its reserves.
2013: the change of doctrine is made
In May 2013, the General Secretariat of Defense and National Security (SGDSN) which depends on Matignon, noted the change in doctrine and therefore the attrition of stocks. "The logic was to say: let's do more like in the industry and do not manage inert stocks but have stocks in flux", explains a fine connoisseur of the management of health crises. "But this implies that we know how to reconstitute them in the event of a crisis," he adds. The idea is then to rely on Chinese imports but also on French production capacities.
Likewise, the EPRUS is relieved of part of the responsibility for building up stocks. Departments themselves must have precautionary reservations. And responsibility is given to employers (hospitals, private clinics, etc.) "to determine the advisability of building up stocks of masks to protect their staff", in particular FFP2.
2015: a warning
In 2015, a report by Senator Francis Delattre testified to the drop in stocks, the value of which "went from a maximum of 992 million euros at the end of 2010 to (…) at 416 million euros" in March 2015.
This same text also warns: "reserving production capacity cannot be a unique solution to prevent exceptional health situations". Clearly, the State must keep sufficient strategic stocks in anticipation of an epidemic.
2020: the boxes are empty
In early 2020, as the coronavirus epidemic begins to spread, stocks have run out. The State has no reserves of FFP2 masks, 117 million adult surgical masks and 40 million pediatric children's masks. In its warehouses in Orleans, the army "identifies" 5 million masks which it distributes on March 19. The volume of masks held by employers is impossible to inventory.
A decree to requisition French production was issued on March 3, two weeks before the start of general confinement. Increasing the pace "is not a simple exercise," acknowledged Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Saturday. At the same time, France is finalizing the acquisition of 250 million masks internationally, announced the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, who ensures that the government began, in January, to import new copies .
Our file on the coronavirus
These measures do not extinguish the questions surrounding the anticipation of the crisis. Knowing that the decision to renew stocks belongs to the Minister of Health, according to article L1413-4 of the public health code. "It will be time when the time comes to draw all the consequences in terms of preparation," said Olivier Véran on Saturday.
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- epidemic
- Covid 19
- Coronavirus
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- Roselyne Bachelot
- Virus