Interview with Agnès Leclerc

What are France’s main strengths in the area of cooperation in the field of health and social protection?

Funding of French cooperation in this area is resourced mainly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the Ministry of Health and Solidarity provides the experts and facilities.In the area of health the most prevalent topics concern the Millennium Development Goals.
Three of those goals are health-related, for example the goal of reducing child mortality. France also makes a significant contribution to combating and treating AIDS, particularly further to the initiative of the President of the Republic in this area. In the fight against AIDS, we can also point to innovative initiatives like GIP Esther, which addresses the problem from a range of different perspectives, including risk reduction, access to treatment and a comprehensive approach to care which factors in the social and societal dimensions. And we are increasingly called upon for our expertise in others areas of health and social protection, with a growing demand on the part of the emerging and transition countries like China, Brazil, India and Korea. Issues such as early childhood services, reconciliation of family and professional life and care for the elderly are all regarded as areas in which France excels.
In geographical terms, France has identified a so-called Priority Solidarity Zone which comprises regions such as the Caribbean and Latin America as well as the Francophone countries. France is also highly active in the new European Union countries and the accession candidate countries, where cooperation usually takes the form of EU-funded twinning operations.

Can you give some examples of French cooperation activities?

Let me come back to GIP Esther, which is the Ministry of Health’s agent for cooperation in the fight against AIDS. GIP Esther has developed a strategy and practices which have earned it worldwide recognition. Working with a budget of €14 million it is active in about 20 countries, attacking the problem from all sides through training, improvement of treatment facilities, organisation of supply chains and distribution of drugs, improvement of programmes to prevent mother-to-child transmission, improvement of hospital hygiene and reduction of the risk of blood-to-blood contact.

Let me also mention (because France is also involved in cooperation activities with developed countries) the example of Canada and Quebec, where there is considerable demand for partnerships with France in the health area. With that country and province we have frequent interactions on issues such as bird flue, cancer (notably through France’s new National Cancer Institute (Inca)) and telemedicine – to the extent that an agreement is in preparation between the two countries on health cooperation. Another quite different example is Chile, with whom we are working on the questions of accreditation and quality of treatment.
It should also be remembered that France has a long tradition of hospital twinning in the international arena.

Can you see any key trends emerging in the area of health and welfare cooperation?

What has come to the fore is the issue of population ageing, with the attendant challenges in terms of health and retirement systems. We are also witnessing the emergence of an equally complex problem - that of health sector staffing, with the threat of a drain on resources by the southern hemisphere countries. This issue concerns northern and southern hemisphere countries alike. A country like the USA for example currently trains only 70% of the health professionals that it needs - and those needs are set to grow in the future.
Looking at geographical trends, it’s clear that emerging countries like China, Brazil and India will have increasing weight in cooperation in the area of health and social protection. And there is considerable demand for cooperation from other South American countries as well as Brazil.
Therein lies the role of GIP SPSI whose task will be to keep abreast of these developments and ensure effective coordination of the French response.