"There has been nothing done about alcohol for five years," said doctor Bernard Basset, president of the association Addictions France, to AFP.

With other organizations, which bring together most of the world of addictology in France, this association accused the Head of State, Emmanuel Macron, at the end of March of persistent "conflicts of interest" with the wine sector.

This press release reacted to an article in Le Monde questioning the action at the Elysee Palace of an adviser to Mr. Macron, Audrey Bourolleau, from the wine industry.

Quoting several e-mails, the daily shows that this one, since leaving to found the school of agriculture Hectar, asked to reduce the terms of certain public health campaigns against the consumption of alcohol.

However, the concerns of the health world go beyond this isolated case.

Since the start of the five-year term, addictologists have regularly criticized Emmanuel Macron on two levels: insufficient actions in the face of alcohol and statements deemed complacent on wine.

A bad experience

On the first level, there have been prevention campaigns but health professionals consider them, in contrast to the fight against tobacco, largely insufficient in relation to the number of deaths linked to alcohol consumption.

Thus, the State gave up at the last moment in 2020 to support the "Dry January" operation which encourages people to stop their alcohol consumption for a month in order to take a step back from it.

Emmanuel Macron at the Agricultural Show, February 22, 2020 in Paris Christophe PETIT TESSON POOL / AFP / Archives

This decline was very badly experienced by health professionals who saw it as the mark of the alcohol sector, more particularly of wine, to avoid a commitment from the State.

Asked about this by AFP, the Elysée did not respond.

But, in an interview given last week to the Quotidien du Médecin, the Minister of Health, Oliver Véran assured that "the choice of public health" had always prevailed during the five-year term.

Only, "for Dry January, its impact is still debated in the scientific community", judged Mr. Véran.

A report from Inserm, however, considers that the interest of this operation, coming from the Anglo-Saxon world, has been demonstrated.

The Minister of Health Olivier Véran on March 23, 2022 in Paris Ludovic MARIN AFP

"The others haven't done much either", in a context of "a long tradition of lobbying in the world of alcohol", judge with AFP Karine Gallopel-Morvan, researcher in public health.

Midday and evening wine

According to her, unlike his predecessors, Mr. Macron has "no problem defending alcohol publicly".

This is the second part of the reproaches made to the President on the question of alcohol.

Since his election -- and even before --, Mr. Macron has multiplied his praise for wine, to the point of claiming to drink it "midday and evening" and to personally receive a prize from the Revue du vin de France (RVF) in early 2022. .

Emmanuel Macron named "Personality of the Year" by the magazine La revue du vin, January 6, 2022 in Paris Christophe PETIT TESSON POOL / AFP / Archives

This proximity is claimed by the wine sector, which sees in it the guarantee of a good balance between public health concerns and recognition of the place of wine in French culture.

"The message that we were able to communicate with Mr. President is that wine is a moment of sharing, and not excessive consumption", explains to AFP Samuel Mongermont, president of Vin et société. , one of the industry's leading advocacy organizations.

In fact, Emmanuel Macron during the presentation last year of a plan against cancer, assumed the objective of "preventing excesses" without "going towards zero alcohol".

In the current state of knowledge about alcohol, research clearly shows that a light drinker is already at increased risk, for example of breast cancer in women.

"Emmanuel Macron, by his declarations which value the consumption of alcohol and in particular wine, goes against the data of science", concludes Mr. Basset.

© 2022 AFP