-
Four departments put on orange heatwave alert
Hot weather warnings look set to increase over the coming days
-
Tourism and leisure sectors in France commit to water saving measures
25 industry players will receive government funding to reduce consumption
-
French pharmacists threaten summer of ‘guerilla’ strike action
Protests, closures, and blockades of medicine depots are all on the agenda as anger in the sector rises
Antibiotics prescribed less but still over-used
Use of antibiotics is reducing – but France remains the third largest European user in terms of population size after Greece and Cyprus.

Doctors’ prescriptions for antibiotics dropped by 15% from 2009-18, while the number of doses consumed stabilised at 22.5 per 1,000 people, per day, a government report found.
However, over-65s were taking more antibiotics by the end of the study period – up 13% for those aged 65-84, and up 9% for those aged 85 or more.
Dijon Bourgogne hospital infections expert Professor Lionel Piroth says older people are more fragile and grew up in a period when the risks of over-use – including allowing the emergence of more resistant strains of bacteria for which there are no treatments – were not known.
Antibiotics should not be used for treating viral infections, he added.
If France reduced consumption to the level of the Netherlands, the Sécu would save €400million a year.