“With inflation, it's either eat or get medicine” Our readers forgo over-the-counter drugs

Faced with soaring prices, most of the readers who responded to our call explain having to make a choice between treatment and meeting other needs such as food. Others, for whom health is a priority, turn to an alternative: generic drugs.

Energy bills, food, leisure, transport France is undergoing a period of inflation that it had not known for several years. And the health sector is also concerned. Consequently, many French people give up buying drugs that are not reimbursed because of rising prices.

According to a study carried out by Ifop (the French Institute of Public Opinion), published on April 24, 6 out of 10 French people claim to have already given up on the purchase of a drug without a prescription because of its price, i.e. a proportion which has almost doubled in about fifteen years. “It was while discussing with our pharmacist customers and after having conducted a study last year that we noticed this phenomenon of renunciation”, explains Jérôme Wirotius, general manager of the Biogaran laboratory, which commissioned the study.

The trend has increased with the current inflation . And our readers are no exception. Maud, who works in a pharmacy, confirms to us that “more and more patients are no longer buying drugs that are not reimbursed. Some are even embarrassed and pretend to already have these drugs at home. This is the case of Marie who has "given up" buying "so-called 'comfort' drugs […] given the soaring prices which are mind-boggling". And for Mathieu, the observation is bitter: “With inflation, it's either eating, or taking care of yourself, or filling up your vehicle. »

Consequences on health

For Jérôme Wirotius, this kind of choice is bad news: “Inflation in the health sector, which is due to the rise in production costs, raw materials, energy, is a new factor. And it seems difficult to explain to French people, who live in a developed country, having to pay dearly for their medicines, to the point of giving them up. »

Ange, who has been suffering from “chronic pain for years”, then admits having stopped buying medicine because “there is more urgent”. Just like Cécile: “I gave up a lot of non-prescription drugs” even if this choice predates the current rising inflation. On the other hand, she notes an even "more worrying" tendency to know how to give up " carereimbursed because the circuits are completely saturated and I have nothing to do with fighting to be treated”. She thus gave up a dentist three years ago and will not take an examination if she considers that her pathologies are not serious. "If I detect an anomaly but it seems benign to me, like a lump, could I miss out on cancer out of discouragement and only end up consulting once too late?" Probabl”, she notes disillusioned.

The generic alternative

Despite everything, there are still French people who maintain their health purchases. For Viviane, “health [is] a priority”. She “continues [therefore] to buy [her] medicines, whatever the price. Same desire on the side of Nicolas, who favors a qualitative approach: “I only buy the drugs I need. »

In order to lighten the weight of the rise in the price of non-reimbursed drugs, it is possible to turn to generic drugs, as Marie suggests: “Some are available on request in pharmacies”.

Or there are "reimbursable equivalents" as Maud notes. Moreover, the Ifop study confirms that "when it comes to non-reimbursed medicines, [the French ] are more attentive to the price (70%) than to the brand (38%) and 88% say they are ready to favor products of equivalent quality to the major brands but at a lower price. The advice of the pharmacist remains decisive in the choices, at 83%.

How far can you bend your hands back? With these tips from a physio you can make your wrists more flexible

Screen work can have a negative impact on the dexterity of our hands and wrists: typing all day can make it less possible to bend them back. You can do something about this yourself quite easily, says physiotherapist Bert Mutsaers. In this section, our experts answer a reader's question every week about relationships, health, nutrition and other topics.

Mutsaers: ,,Working behind a screen is associated with several health disadvantages. These can be of a general nature, such as a reduced condition due to insufficient exercise. But also more specific, such as complaints in the neck, forearms and wrists.

Our musculoskeletal system forms according to the function we ask of it

It is somewhat more difficult to indicate whether the said movement restriction actually arose due to the screen work. That is not necessarily necessary for some helping tips, because I can give you those. For this we can rely on a very basic rule: our musculoskeletal system, that is, our bones, skeletal muscles, joints, capsules, cartilage and ligaments that enable us to move, molds to the function we ask of it.

Build up slowly

To increase the flexibility of the wrists when bending backward, we "just" need to do that a lot. Often try to keep the wrists in a backward bent position that is just comfortable. Build up that position slowly. Try to slowly build up the total time the wrists are in the extreme position.

This can be done simply by bending the other hand as far back as possible with one hand and holding that final position for a while. Or: standing at the desk, place the hands flat on the worktop and place the forearms on it as perpendicular as possible. You will feel some pressure or stretch. Do this more often in a day and for a little longer. If this does not produce visible results after a few weeks or if it causes pain, be sure to visit your GP or physiotherapist to have it assessed.''

Ave Vermeer-Spetter uses an automatic scale every day. District nurse Mariska Molenaar immediately receives the information on her phone and can keep a close eye on health.

The elderly are only rarely offered technological care, such as smart incontinence material or hip airbags. Healthcare providers struggle with costs, do not know which technical gadgets to use and experience resistance from clients and staff.

Research by care office CZ among 121 care providers in the southern part of the country shows that nursing home and home care institutions use an average of just under three proven care technologies. Most often they use sensors to see, for example, whether clients get out of bed and medicine dispensers that warn the elderly when they need to take their medicines.

More technical gadgets have been scientifically proven to save healthcare staff time or ensure that the elderly are better able to fend for themselves. “There may be some acceleration. At the moment, the use of healthcare technology is still too dependent on people within a healthcare organization who are enthusiastic,” says CZ healthcare buyer Bram Visschers.

'Ambition up'

Last year, 3.3 percent of the insured who received district nursing at Menzis received 'some form of home care technology'. Menzis believes that there should be more next year. “The ambition can be increased, 10 percent must be feasible for every healthcare provider,” says a spokesperson.

According to the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa), it is especially difficult for small healthcare providers to deploy more technology. They often have insufficient money, administrative vision and manpower to innovate. The regulator believes that care administration offices should help these care providers by sharing experiences and making agreements about reimbursement.