• Emmanuel Macron announced free male condoms in pharmacies from 2023 for young people aged 18 to 25.

  • The news was warmly welcomed by associations fighting against HIV and STDs.

  • However, questions remain unanswered, such as the choice of the age group or the absence of an announcement concerning the female condom.

The announcement was applauded by the associations but areas still need to be clarified.

“In pharmacies, the condom will be free for 18-25 year olds.

It will start on January 1.

It is a small revolution of prevention, ”launched the President of the Republic Thursday during a session of the National Council for Refoundation (CNR) devoted to the health of young people, in Fontaine-le-Comte (Vienne).

The management of this means of protection against STIs and of contraception is therefore facilitated and extended.

Questions still arise the day after Emmanuel Macron's statement.

Why this ad?

If the terms of this support remain to be specified, the Minister of Health, François Braun, assured Friday that “it will be very simple: 100% reimbursement by Social Security”, “without prescription”.

"One of the major issues is the health of young people" in a context of "recovery of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which are a major cause of infertility", argued the minister on BFMTV and RMC.

In recent years, the number of new diagnoses of HIV infection has not decreased in France, stagnating around 5,000 in 2021. And the resurgence of STIs, in particular Chlamydia and gonococcus, has continued.

In addition, according to Public Health France, 15% of people who discovered their HIV status in 2021 were under the age of 25, and the share of this age group has not decreased since 2017.

What support so far?

Male condoms are already reimbursed by Social Security, without age limit, but on compulsory prescription from a doctor or a midwife.

Two models are concerned: “Eden” since December 2018, to which has been added “Sortez covered!

in March 2019.

According to Health Insurance data, 542,893 boxes (of 6, 12 or 24 condoms) were reimbursed in 2021, a figure up 31% over one year.

This device is however unknown: only 21% of minors and 29% of 18-24 year olds have heard of it, the Elysee Palace said on Thursday.

“This possibility of free access on prescription was a first step, but we knew that the passage by a general practitioner could represent an obstacle”, indicates to AFP Florence Thune, director general of the association for the fight against HIV. Sidaction.

Why not expand to under 18s?

If the actors (associations, doctors) involved in the prevention of STIs welcomed the presidential announcement, questions remain.

“It's a good thing to make prevention tools as widely available as possible.

On the other hand, we can wonder about the age range: why not before 18?

We know that sexual life often begins before this age,” notes the AIDES association.

However, minors are already among the main beneficiaries of the approximately 5 to 6 million condoms distributed free of charge each year, whether at the Points Accueil et d'Ecoute Jeune (PAEJ), at the infirmary of colleges and high schools, in the centers animation or MJCs, etc.

The AIDES association alone donates more than a million a year.

But these free distributions weigh little against the more than 112 million condoms sold in 2021, all networks combined (supermarkets, pharmacies, etc.), according to Public Health France.

How to go further ?

For AIDES, the “all condom” strategy is not “sufficient”.

According to this association, "other prevention tools must also be made available, in particular PrEP [pre-exposure prophylaxis]", which consists of taking a drug in order to avoid contamination and remains "little known among those under 25. year ".

“It is important to promote other means of prevention”, agrees Florence Thune, who also believes that the health authorities do not speak “enough” about PrEP.

our dossier on the condom

As for the female condom, which is not covered by Social Security despite a recommendation to this effect from the High Council for Equality in 2021, "it is not generally promoted: there too, an information effort would be needed and availability, "says the leader of Sidaction.

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  • Health

  • Contraception

  • Condom

  • Health Insurance

  • Social Security

  • Sidaction

  • Emmanuel Macron

  • Francois Braun

  • AIDS

  • STD