French Public Health Code
In forceThe nation defines its health policy in order to guarantee everyone's right to health protection.
Health policy is the responsibility of the State.
It aims to promote healthy living conditions, improve the state of health of the population, reduce social and territorial inequalities and promote equality between men and women, and to guarantee the best possible health security and effective access for the population to prevention and care.
Health policy includes :
1° Monitoring and observing the state of health of the population and identifying its main determinants, in particular those linked to education and living and working conditions. The identification of these determinants is based on the concept of the exposome, understood as the integration over a lifetime of all the exposures that can influence human health;
2° The promotion of health in all living environments, particularly in educational establishments and the workplace, and the reduction of health risks linked to diet, environmental factors and living conditions likely to affect it;
3° The collective and individual prevention, throughout life, of illness and pain, trauma and loss of autonomy, in particular by defining an educational health pathway for children, by health education, by the fight against sedentary lifestyles and by the development of regular physical activity and sport at all ages;
4° National coordination of actions carried out as part of the protection and promotion of maternal and child health mentioned in article L. 2111-1 ;
5° Organising healthcare pathways. The aim of these pathways, through the coordination of health, social and medico-social players, in conjunction with users and local authorities, is to guarantee the continuity, accessibility, quality, safety and efficiency of care for the population, taking into account the specific geographical, demographic and seasonal characteristics of each territory, in order to contribute to territorial equity;
6° The collective and mutually supportive assumption of responsibility for the financial and social consequences of illness, accident and disability through the social protection system;
7° Preparing for and responding to health alerts and crises;
8° The production, use and dissemination of knowledge useful for its development and implementation;
9° Promoting training, research and innovation activities in the health field;
10° Matching the initial and continuing training of healthcare professionals with the exercise of their responsibilities;
11° Informing the population and involving it, directly or through associations, in public debates on health issues and health risks, and in the process of drawing up and implementing health policy.
Health policy is tailored to the needs of people with disabilities and their family carers.
Any bill relating to health policy, with the exception of social security funding bills and finance bills, is subject to prior consultation with the Union nationale des caisses d'assurance maladie, the professional bodies representing mutual insurance companies and associations of mutual insurance companies governed by the Mutual Insurance Code, provident institutions and associations of provident institutions governed by the Social Security Code, the companies mentioned in article L. 310-1 of the Insurance Code and offering guarantees relating to the reimbursement and compensation of expenses incurred as a result of illness, maternity or accident, the Union nationale des professionnels de santé, representatives of local authorities and the Union nationale des associations agréées d'usagers du système de santé.
