Systematization of screening examinations from birth, promised upgrade for speech therapists or child psychologists, increase in the number of caregivers… The government unveiled, this Thursday, May 23, a supposedly “ambitious” plan around child health.
On the eve of the Pediatric Conference, expected to respond to a historic crisis in the sector but postponed several times to 2023, the government presented its roadmap, made up of 16 measures and 80 “concrete” actions. These are part of a context of deterioration of several indicators in recent years around infant mortality or the mental health of young people.
This plan is accompanied by an envelope of around 300 million euros per year by 2030, made up of new or existing credits. The government intends to emphasize “prevention”, with the desire to systematize the carrying out of the 20 compulsory examinations for children. He wants to create a new compulsory examination at 6 years of age to detect possible neurodevelopmental, language, or optical disorders.
It also plans to facilitate access to speech therapists, without first visiting a treating physician. Faced with growing needs, it also plans to increase the number of training places from 10% from 2025 to +50% in 2030.
“The health of the child is a priority”
It also promises upgrades for professionals working in health establishments. Revaluation is also promised for child psychologists, whose number in medical-psychological centers (CMP) must increase in the face of alerts about the mental health of young people. In neonatology, also in crisis, the objective is to reach 1 bed per 1,000 births throughout the territory. The government also insists on the need to improve access to care for child victims of violence, providing free mental health examinations or with psychomotor therapists.
These measures are “the fruit of long work on the part of a committee appointed in November 2022 following the triple epidemic (of Covid-19, flu and bronchiolitis) which had put pressure on pediatric systems”, explained to AFP the offices of Frédéric Valletoux, and of the Minister Delegate in charge of Children, Sarah El Haïry, who are carrying out this plan.
“The health of the child is a priority,” assure those around the ministers. This is “a real turning point in our approach to the health of young people”, assured the Minister Delegate in charge of Health Frédéric Valletoux in a statement sent to AFP.