Specialist allergy course will streamline research

Medical students will be able to specialise in the study of allergies as France seeks to tackle a so called “sickness of civilisation”.

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With one in three people in France suffering an allergy, a number predicted to rise, the country has placed a new focus on studying the problem.

As of December medical students can study a specialist four-year Diplôme d’études spécialisées in allergies, where previously the subject could only be studied as a complementary course for specialists such as dermatologists.

The union of French allergists, Syfal, has welcomed the measure which it says will help streamline research and raise the visibility of what it terms the “sickness of civilisation”.
Syfal counts 1,200 doctors working in the field of allergies either exclusively or part time.

In 1970, three per cent of the population suffered from allergies, according the Association of Asthma and Allergies, a number that has risen to 30%, around 18 million people, today. The World Health Organisation estimates that by 2050, half of people living in developed countries could suffer some form of allergy.

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