PARIS, March 19 (Guo Lin) -- An investigation found that in recent years, the Ile-de-France region has shown a state of desertification in terms of medical services, and more and more people are unable to easily obtain help from general practitioners.
According to the French television station CNEWS, the 2022 zoning of the Ile-de-France Regional Health Authority (ARS) recently confirmed the problem of medical desertification in the area that began a few years ago. Specifically, no less than 7.5 million inhabitants of the Ile-de-France live in priority intervention zones (ZIP), which are the main medical deserts in France when it comes to accessing general practitioner services.
【Bad situation】
Since 2015, the proportion of the population living in priority intervention areas has increased ninefold, and health care services in priority intervention areas have been undersupplied. 62.4% of the population in the Paris region has no general practitioners or faces refusals from general practitioners to accept new patients. Some institutions are closed due to a lack of medical staff on duty, and some hospitals or medical centers lack staff at call stations.
Add to this, coupled with the 4.2 million people living in vulnerable areas (33.9%), there is a shortage of doctors and caregivers to provide proper care throughout the Paris region.
Valérie Briole, president of the Regional Health Professionals Alliance (URPS), said: "This is a disaster and there will be no improvement in the short term. ”
According to the Regional Union of Health Professionals, the Paris region lost 3742 doctors from private institutions in 10 years, including 1821 general practitioners, as well as 28% dermatologists, 26% gynecologists, 22% ophthalmologists and rheumatologists.
To make matters worse, Valerie Briol said, is that one in two doctors is over 60 and one in four is over 65, which is the formation of "desertification."
【Measures to be implemented as soon as possible】
That's why the Regional Union of Health Professionals organized a joint meeting with the la métropole du Grand Paris to offer recommendations and solutions to the problems that arise.
Valerie Briole believes that the immediate priority is to alleviate this "desertification" problem, such as providing good material and financial conditions for doctors. In response, the Paris Regional Health Commission wants to implement various types of measures to respond quickly to health emergencies.
Among them, doctors over the age of 65 are given financial support to maintain their status quo ante, new doctors are trained by substantially increasing the number of interns and opening internships in private clinics, and by providing them with financial and administrative support to help resettle new doctors.
Other measures include raising the consultation fee for consultations in order to align rates with the European average through harmonization, or creating a system of doctors from private institutions.
Patrick Ollier, President of the Paris Metropolitan Area, said: "The collaborative meeting we have started today with the doctors of the Regional Union of Health Professionals will allow us to work further with the mayors in charge of health and elected representatives to enable the people of the metropolitan area to access vital medical care. ”