Published on
Updated
Reading 2 min.
in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
For reasons of cost and shortage of doctors, a majority of French people admit to resorting to self-medication, and turning to medications without a prescription, according to an Ifop survey.
Treating yourself, with the help of your pharmacist, is a trend that is growing in France. According to a recent Ifop survey conducted in April for the Biogaran brand, 88% of French people have already used medications without a prescription, or nearly 9 out of 10. This was 58% 20 years ago.
The medical context and inflation in question
Obviously, a large part of these purchases of medicines without a prescription are due to mild symptoms and everyday ailments which do not necessarily require a medical consultation. This is the case for 79% of respondents.
However, if the trend is increasing, it is also a sign of a deteriorating situation: for 57%, it is a solution chosen when an appointment with the doctor takes too long, or is not is not accessible (remember that 6 million French people do not have a GP). And for 29%, it is the consultation fees that must be paid up front that discourage them.
The foregoing of care for budgetary reasons is also increasing. This is the reason why 61% of French people have already had to give up purchasing non-reimbursed medicines without a prescription this year, whereas only 36% had encountered this situation in 2009.
Rely on the advice of your pharmacist.
For Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo, this French trend is a direct consequence of the inaccessibility of doctors in the country. However, he emphasizes the importance of consulting your pharmacist, so as not to self-medicate haphazardly and not to take risks.
“The role of the pharmacist is to give advice, including for self-service medications. You should therefore never hesitate to ask questions about your symptoms, effects, precautions, etc. Also be careful with prescription medications, which you wish to repurchase without having renewed the prescription. An antibiotic, for example, we don’t do anything with it, just because it worked once in a certain situation doesn’t mean it will continue to do so. Certain prescription medications must be subject to particular vigilance.”
An attitude that is no longer really accepted: the pharmacy now only provides the number of antibiotics requested by the doctor to avoid any problems.