"In pharmacies, condoms will be free for 18-25 year olds. This will start on January 1. It's a small prevention revolution", launched the President of the Republic during a session of the National Council of the refoundation (CNR) dedicated to the health of young people, in Fontaine-le-Comte near Poitiers (Vienne).

The cost of this measure has not been quantified at this stage.

But this device is still unknown: only 21% of minors and 29% of 18-24 year olds are aware of it, according to the Elysée.

However, the number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), in particular Chlamydia and gonococcus, is on the rise among young people, especially among men aged 15 to 29 (+ 45% between 2017 and 2019), according to the data of the presidency.

In 2021, the number of new diagnoses of HIV infection has also stagnated around 5,000.

By 2030, the objective is: "zero new infections" by HIV and the elimination of STIs "as major public health problems", according to the objectives set during the previous five-year term of Emmanuel Macron.

Papillomavirus

Among the other necessary advances concerning the "sexual health of young people", the Head of State mentioned the vaccination of adolescents - girls and boys - against papillomavirus infections, linked to the appearance of several cancers, in particular uterus.

"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.

"I do not exclude that we go towards compulsory vaccination when all this is installed and we have the right recommendations" scientists, he insisted.

In mainland France, the vaccination coverage of adolescent girls aged 15 to 18 against these infections is estimated at 43.6%, according to a study by the French Public Health Agency published at the end of November.

It is "far from the 60% target" of the 2014-2019 cancer plan, notes SPF.

The figure also drops to less than 10% among young boys, noted Emmanuel Macron.

During this CNR, which brought together professionals and associations, the participants pleaded for a national vaccination campaign aimed at adolescents and their parents.

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, (...) we must re-sensitize", argued the chief. of State.

The Social Security Budget, adopted last week by Parliament, also provides for free emergency contraception for all women, without medical prescription.

It also plans to make screening for certain sexually transmitted infections possible without a prescription for everyone, and free of charge for those under 26.

Youth suicide

The president also discussed at length, on board a bus that criss-crosses the Vienne department to meet adolescents, with child psychiatry specialists on the issue of suicide among young people.

"It's a phenomenon that worries us a lot," explained Professor Ludovic Gicquel, head of the child and adolescent psychiatry center at the Laborit hospital in Poitiers.

In the Vienne department, at least a dozen young people have committed suicide since the beginning of the year, three to four times more than in the past, he noted, pointing to the "psychic precariousness" of adolescents since the Covid-19 epidemic and "digital interactivity which does not help them find the resources within themselves to calm down".

The CNR, initiated by Emmanuel Macron, brings together elected officials, professionals, unions and associations to try to reform France through consultation.

© 2022 AFP