Through a dozen advertisements and posters, the Santé Publique France and the Ministry of Health launch this Tuesday their new alcohol prevention campaign aimed at young people.
We can read that “motivate your friends to consume less, THAT IS THE BASIS” or that “ask for help directly if your friend is in trouble, THAT IS THE BASIS.” Some messages are more ambiguous, such as “drink water also if you consume alcohol” or “think about eating before drinking alcohol, THAT’S THE BASIS.”
Control alcohol consumption instead of reducing it
The content of the messages has attracted attention among many health professionals and other associations that fight addictions, who believe that the campaign encourages the control of alcohol consumption more than its reduction.
“This campaign is a bit ambiguous. It doesn’t talk about the dangers of alcohol, it doesn’t say that we should reduce our consumption… It talks about precautions,” said Bertrand Basset, president of the French Addictions association, at the press conference. Sud Radio microphone this Tuesday.
“Here is the campaign on alcohol that has passed the Elysian censorship. Alcoholics can rest assured: it does not contain any message of reducing consumption. Never seen before,” the doctor and socialist senator also launched on Twitter. Bernardo Jommier.
A desire to protect the wine industry?
The Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, seemed to justify himself even before the launch of the advertisements. “Public health is about defining priorities and choosing messages. They can be discussed, of course… not our determination to fight this scourge of public health,” he wrote this Monday on X (formerly Twitter).
According to our health consultant, Dr. Jean-Pierre Thierry, “we can think that the government favors an economic approach. We can clearly see that it is about preserving the interests of alcohol producers and sellers.”
“France maintains a very high level of consumption and the health and social consequences are extremely important, warns the doctor. Around 50,000 deaths a year are attributed to alcohol.”
More incisive campaigns canceled
This prevention campaign is all the more controversial since two previous, much more incisive, campaigns had been repressed by the government.
“Don’t let alcohol knock you out,” read a slogan that would be broadcast during the Rugby World Cup. “When we drink, our health is affected,” warned another campaign, recalling that “drinking alcohol increases the risk of heart rhythm disorders” and “the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.”
According to an investigation by Radio France, the images of these two campaigns were presented by Santé Publique France, in the presence and with the support of the General Directorate of Health, at the end of May 2023, in the office of the then Minister of Health. , François Braun. But a few weeks later, both campaigns were canceled.
Radio France points out the pressure from Vin et Société, the main French wine lobby. Last January, this group of some 500,000 producers and actors in the sector sent a letter to the Elysée to criticize a Public Health France prevention campaign spread during the holidays. The latter pointed out the paradox of “toasting someone’s health,” while “alcohol is not health.” “An inept slogan,” the wine lobby protests in this letter.
In 2019, the government had already been singled out for blocking a “dry January” initiative planned by Santé Publique France for early 2020.
Source: BFM TV
