Medical Treatment in France
Even in the worst of situations, we deserve the best. Because, as long as you have the money to pay for a good product or a good service, there should be someone on the other side of the street willing to offer this high-quality thing.
Well, if you look at France, this is exactly what happens.
It is necessary to remind that France has the best health care system according to the United Nations’ World Health Organization. Not only this, but the extreme and fierce competition present in the market where pharmaceutical businesses, manufacturers, medical institutions, and private insurance companies all interact, ensures that the public will receive only the best of the best, and provided at the lowest cost possible (if one company offers one thing at some price, but another business decides to offer that same thing at a lower price… Well, there’s a clear winner).
All of this, combined with the big efforts coming from the central government—specifically Le Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé (Ministry of Solidarity and Health in English, or just the Ministry of Health), which manages the health care system, as well as the public health insurance system of the Social Security—, make sure that the French people receive the best possible treatments.
The current incumbent of this ministry is the hematologist and university professor Agnès Buzin, who, trusts us, has a big curriculum and a long experience in the provision of health care for the public.
Another important part of the medical treatment in France rests on the developments by L’Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (Inserm, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research in English). Established in 1964, it is dedicated to research in the medical field, naturally. Its activities are overseen by both the Ministry of Solidarity and Health, and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (or just Ministry of Research).
In fact, Inserm has had a leading role in the world. One example of this can be found in 1980 when Jean Dausset, a French immunologist and Inserm research scientist from Toulouse was awarded the Nobel Prize, due to his work related to the discovery and labeling of some genes responsible for allowing the immune system to detect strange molecules in vertebrates.
And, not only that. In 2008, another Inserm scientific received the Nobel Prize; this time, it was Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, a French virologist woman that identified the terrible human immunodeficiency virus (most commonly known as HIV, acquired from the immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS).
As you can see, great scientists from this French organization have made it to the top by receiving such incredible awards. To continue stimulating this and further benefiting France’s medical treatment overall, Inserm started to give different awards every year, starting in the year 2000. These prizes are le Grand Prix de l’Inserm, le Grand Prix d’Honneur, and Le Prix Étranger.
In any case, the French are still brilliant at creating medical innovations, since other 11 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to date for that very reason to other French scientists and medical doctors.
But France does not fall short of talented and genius people. As you may have studied during high school or college/university, the Age of Enlightenment (or just Enlightenment) that took place in Europe in the 18th Century was vital to continue building the foundations of freedom and democracy, two of the most important and most treasured inventions of humanity that should be protected at all costs. This came, again, as a consequence of another key development in history that took place in France, called the French Revolution!
But, returning to the Age of Enlightenment, a great number of important people came from this period. One of the most important ones was, without a doubt, the French scientist René Descartes, who contributed a lot in the mathematical field; then there is Montesquieu, a French judge, and political philosopher, acclaimed for his ideas on the separation of powers—that was later written and materialized in most democracies around the world—, was very important as well; and then Voltaire, famous for his criticism of Christianity and his ideas on the necessity to separate the State from the Church to further promote freedom of religion, freedom of speech, etc.
And, of course, there are also a lot of famous French people that directly contributed to the current effectiveness of the medical treatment found in the country. We can start mentioning some names. One of them is René Laennec, a famous French physician that invented the stethoscope and contributed to the examination of the chest cavity through audition and the use of his new stethoscope too, of course; another important one is Louis Pasteur, a French microbiologist, and chemist that practically founded microbiology, since he basically discovered the fermentation caused by microorganisms, as well as the diseases they could cause (you may have heard of the famous process of pasteurization to suppress the presence of bacteria in milk, for example); and, Paul Tessier, a French plastic surgeon and founder of craniofacial surgery to treat a number of syndromes and diseases.
We all love to travel and do some tourism from time to time. Some may choose exotic locations in Africa, Asia or even Oceania. However, one thing is clear, and it is that France is king when it comes to tourism. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), France is the most visited country in the world by far, so Paris and the main cities never fall short of new people visiting to try the French cuisine, or even to try the French health care system…
That’s true. Some people travel to France not to see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, the Palace of Versailles, or the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. Some people just travel to receive medical treatment in the country with the best, most effective, and cheapest system of all (also, in the country with the most strict processes to acquire a patent, certification or license; all of this to ensure quality apart from affordability).
This even has a name. It is called “medical tourism”, and it is very popular and totally legal in the entire world. It is basically people traveling from their home countries towards another country to receive better medical, dental and surgical treatment. In fact, there are annual medical tourism congresses organized with the purpose of showing the wonders of each country’s system and providing an opportunity for partnerships and networking for people interested in this phenomenon.
The thing is that medical tourism is not a recent thing in the world. Actually, it was developed in Ancient Egypt, and it is calculated that more than 16 million people are engaging in medical tourism every year, and most of them are going to France! If managed correctly by the government and the corresponding agencies, this can result in some big profits for the country.
If one looks at other countries with an exceptional medical treatment in specific areas, Brazil stands out in South America for its expertise in the cosmetic surgery area. Then, in Mexico, bariatrics (the branch of medicine dedicated to fighting obesity or overweight), and dentistry are the main specialties that make the land of taco another attractive destination. Cuba has an important role to play in this region of the world as well.
In the Asian continent, when turning out eyes to Singapore, it seems that it isn’t just a champion in education and in applying penalty fees for chewing bubblegum or throwing trash onto the streets, it turns out that they’re champions at treating cancer as well. Malaysia is popular regarding screenings in this part of the world as well. And, finally, in Africa, South Africa shines for its specializations in cosmetic surgeries and cardiology.
It should be noted, though, that France has its specializations in the provision of medical treatment too—or, at least, some treatments that are more popular for medical tourists. Some of these are cancer treatment, cosmetic, dental, and bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery is, again, to treat obesity.
One interesting thing is that the French government not only requests French citizens to participate in the health care program, but they also request visitors and tourists to do the same thing, Between the requisites one has to comply to be part of France’s national health care system if you are a student, and then receive a high-quality medical treatment, you have to be under the age of 28; enrolled on a degree program from some college or university for a period of more than 4 months; and, you should have a home country outside the European Union and Switzerland (remember that Switzerland is not part of the European Union. Hopefully they will be joined by the United Kingdom if things work out in the following months).
It may sound strange that European Union citizens are “banned” from participating in France’s health care program, but the reality is that they already have a European health insurance card that is valid in most European Union member countries. This card is called the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which can be used in any public or private hospital.
You also have the option of getting a policy from a private insurance company if you’re going to France. The only problem is that the coverage can be partial instead of complete. But, in any case, whether you get plan A or plan B, in most of the cases you will end up saving a lot of money that, otherwise, you would have spent in a country like the United States with an expensive health care system and regular medical treatment.
Due to the reimbursement done as part of France’s health care program, people get money back after expending it in hospitals or clinics. One of the most popular treatments in France is prosthetic hip replacement due to the lower costs it presents in this specific treatment when compared with other countries.
French people love outdoors activities, but golf may not be one of them. However, France can indeed be very popular for golf players due to this hip replacement and treatment program. As a very common injury present in golf players, they may turn their eyes and fix them towards France to get the best deal possible. We just hope that champions like Tiger Woods—especially after his recent Masters win since 1997 this last April 14—do not have to go to France to do go through this kind of uncomfortable processes.
In summary, it is important to remember that being medical there are medical doctors and people trained in different areas to provide the most attentive and humane service possible.
Because that’s what a medical doctor does at the end. He or she is a warrior, a warrior fighting against death and struggling to protect life, to protect humanity. Maybe the humanitarian side of the French is always present and strong in most of the things they do.
Actually, French people are sometimes mocked because of their famous retreat during World War II when the Nazis started their invasion. But, in fact, French people are fighters at their cores, and you can see this in their past history with breakthrough events like the French Revolution, or in genius people like Napoleon Bonaparte, who once almost becomes king of Europe. This fighting spirit can be seen in the strength of the medical personnel working at every hospital and every clinic of La France.
As Napoleon Bonaparte himself once said: “If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.” And, definitely, France is not comparing itself with anyone, and it is achieving amazing things in its health sector. Maybe more campaigns from the government directed towards promoting medical tourism could be great to incentivize competition between all the involved agents in the country, and further improving the medical treatments offered in all the branches of medicine. There’s always room for improvement, and “Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.”- Napoleon Bonaparte.