Around fifty doctors asked the executive to get involved in promoting the “January Challenge” operation, which consists of going without alcohol for a month. They say their confidence in the executive to tackle alcoholism is “seriously impaired”.
Sobriety after the holidays. After the traditional digestive marathon of the end-of-year holidays, thousands of French people will try “Dry January”. There were 16,000 registered for the 2023 edition of the “January challenge”, which consists of going without alcohol for a month to take stock of your consumption, according to the Addictions France association. Not to mention all those who indulge in alcoholic beverages without reporting it.
For the 2024 edition, the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau – who has since resigned – assured on December 14 on BFMTV that he himself would be “sober” during this period. On franceinfo, the next day, he invited “the French to consume alcohol in moderation, even before January”. However, the Ministry of Health does not officially support Operation “Dry January”. Enough to worry around fifty addictologists, who sent a letter to Aurélien Rousseau at the beginning of December to ask for his support. Because, even if Public Health France (SPF) ensures West France what “relays this initiative via its national information system”the public health agency does not fund “The January Challenge”.
No state support for this operation
Why do these doctors insist? Because “campaigns driven by the State are always more followed and more effective”, argues psychiatrist Olivier Cottencin, president of the National University College of Addictology Teachers (Cunea), at the origin of the missive. SPF, which studied the 2020 “Dry January” campaign led by associations, noted the “encouraging results” of this device “social marketing”noting that the “lack of media coverage” of the operation, launched in France that year, had “could return” the experience “more difficult”.
Posters, advertising spots, distribution network… The public health agency “has much more financial, logistical and human resources than associations”, insists the president of the Association Addictions France, Bernard Basset. “For a prevention campaign, its budget is in the millions of euros”. While on the associative side, “even by bringing together the investments of four structures”the amount dedicated to the “January challenge” “does not exceed 20,000 euros”.
Targeted actions, but not generalized
Beyond this annual operation, doctors have warned in their letters about the crumbling of their “confidence in the government to pursue a coherent and resolute policy” against alcoholism. And to insist: “Restoring this confidence can only happen through strong gestures, both in terms of content and symbolic significance.” Citing in particular “a very strong action” against smoking, Olivier Cottencin considers that he “The same should be true for alcohol.” Each year in France, 41,000 deaths are attributable to alcohol, including consumption, “even at low doses”increases the risk of cancer, hemorrhagic stroke (CVA) and heart rhythm disorders, recalls SPF.
In response, the Minister of Health preferred to highlight his “priorities” : young people, “who can turn to alcohol and engage in dangerous behavior” and alcohol consumption of pregnant women, “which can have irreversible consequences on the baby’s health”. This hierarchy does not surprise the president of the Association Addictions France. “The alcohol lobby wants actions that do not affect the general population, but targeted categories, such as young people or pregnant women.analyzes Bernard Basset. However, “The January Challenge” is aimed at everyone, regardless of age or consumption habits.
The Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, took the same line as his ex-colleague, on December 16 on France Intersaying he preferred “measure and moderation rather than prohibition, permanent injunction”. Here again, the proximity to the “alcohol lobbies is blatant”estimates addictologist Amine Benyamina. “Dry January is not at all moralistic”contests Claude Rambaud, vice-president of France assos santé. “We don’t tell people how to behave. On the contrary, we ask them to take stock of their behavior.”
Campaigns canceled under pressure
In addition to the recent positioning of the main ministers concerned by this subject, it is the cancellation of a campaign called “Month without alcohol”, managed by SPF with the support of the Ministry of Health, which ignited the powder among the actors in the prevention of alcoholism. Scheduled for January 2020, this campaign worried the wine industry. The National Association of Vine and Wine Elected Officials (Anev) thus demanded its outright cancellation.
In the process, a France Télévisions investigation revealed that the government campaign was indeed on the cards, but that it had been canceled by the head of state himself. Everything would have been decided during a trip by Emmanuel Macron to Champagne. “I think that [le président] was sensitive to our arguments”, reported the president of the general union of Champagne winegrowers, Maxime Toubart.. “He said there would be no dry month, no month without alcohol”. It was ultimately the “Dry January” operation, initiated by the associations, which took over (based on the model of what has been done in the United Kingdom since 2013).
And again in 2023. Starting in January, a new Public Health France campaign, entitled “good health has nothing to do with alcohol”, was launched just after the holidays. A few days later, Vin et Société, which brings together 500,000 players in the sector, sent an inflammatory letter to Emmanuel Macron, according to an investigation by the Radio France investigation unit. The wine lobby, which prefers communicate that it is alcohol abuse that is dangerous for health, not alcohol consumption itself, denounces “an inept slogan” and a campaign that “does not show any scenes of excessive alcohol consumption” but “simply families and friends getting together”.
Two other campaigns with striking slogans were then withdrawn in the spring by the Ministry of Health, according to the Radio France investigation. One of them was to be broadcast during the Rugby World Cup, with a coach urging fans to exercise moderation: “Don’t let alcohol knock you out.”. The other recalled, with supporting photos: “When we drink heavily, our health takes a hit”.
Minors already well initiated
In September, the Ministry of Health approved a new targeted prevention campaign, this time aimed at young people aged 17 to 25. Entitled “This is the basis”, it calls for “Be careful of your friends if they drink too much” or to “also drink water in the evening”. She “does not encourage reducing alcohol consumption”which is “problematic”, criticized Bernard Jomier, socialist senator from Paris and doctor, on franceinfo. She “associates alcohol with partying” And “does not carry any message about risks” linked to alcohol consumption, he emphasizes, such as dependence, sleep and cardiovascular disorders.
Faced with criticism, Aurélien Rousseau defended a “risk reduction campaign”. An argument which does not convince Claude Rambaud, from France assos santé, who would like the emphasis to be placed on the prevention ofhe consumption of alcohol, and not just about alcohol abuse. “Particularly for young people, whose brains are very sensitive to psychoactive substances”she insists.
In 2022, 81% of 17-year-olds had already drunk alcohol, according to Public Health France. There are certainly many who repeat the experience during the end-of-year holidays. A survey carried out by OpinionWay for the League Against Cancer revealed on December 18 that “70% of French adults” don’t see “no problem letting minors consume alcohol” during this period.