Swine flu campaign 'cost France €1bn'
The bill for vaccinating against swine flu is being scrutinised by auditors over claims the government wasted money
THE FRENCH government has spent more than €1bn preparing for the swine flu outbreak since last summer, new figures have revealed.
The official auditor - the Cour des Comptes - and two parliamentary committees have launched separate investigations into the size of the bill after only 7% of the French population agreed to be vaccinated.
According to Le Journal du Dimanche, the government spent €350m on vaccine doses, €150m on wages for medical workers giving the jab, €95m hiring out municipal buildings to use as vaccination centres, €65m sending out the vouchers and €8.5m on syringes.
Other costs included €150m on masks, €145m in social security refunds for doctors' consultations, €20m on Tamiflu doses and a €5.6m advertising campaign.
In January, France cancelled 50 million of the 94 million vaccination doses it had ordered because take-up was slow. It allowed GPs to start vaccinating their patients in an attempt to improve access to the jab.
The government also tried to sell some of its surplus to other countries that did not have enough doses, but the only buyers were Qatar and Monaco.
Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said: "Today I'm being criticised for doing too much - but to begin with the same people were criticising me for not doing enough. I can't win."
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