Nous ne sommes pas coupables d'être malades ! (It’s not our fault if we’re ill!) by David Belliard (2003)

Written by David Belliard (2003), journalist at Alternatives Economiques, and Alix Béranger, expert for the Fondation de France and Solidarité Sida, this well-documented essay discusses the issue of blaming patients for their illness and the impact this policy has on reforms to the health system. It makes a valuable contribution to the debate on alternative public health policies.

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The government has found someone to blame for the gaping hole in the Social Security health bill. Who? Well, the patients, of course, the ones who can’t get their hands on enough useless pills, who go to the doctor’s too often, smoke too much and eat junk food despite the many awareness-raising campaigns. So to put a stop to all of that, it is continuing the reforms introduced by its predecessors in 2002. Payment according to treatment, prescription charges, scaling down of reimbursement for medicines: the new system systematically hits the public. The responsibility of pharmaceutical laboratories or doctors, and the social exoneration policies that companies benefit from are never called into question. The authors reject this systematic blaming of the patients and the uniquely financial vision that leads to a system which hurts the poorest and the most vulnerable in our society, raising serious public health questions. They put argue that an alternative health project, based on the principle of solidarity, is possible.
Released on 6 May 2010, by ‘les petits matins’ (www.lespetitsmatins.fr).
Collection Alternatives économiques (www.alternatives-economiques.fr).
Take a few minutes to discover the book:
http://prezi.com/recjbwztm7bb/nous-ne-sommes-pas-coupables-detre-malades/