The third objective aims to ensure health and well-being for all by improving reproductive, maternal and child health, and by reducing the burden of major communicable, non-communicable, environmental and mental diseases.
These health challenges can be addressed provided that preventive systems are put in place to reduce health-risk behaviours, universal access to health coverage and health services is ensured, research and development of vaccines and medicines are supported, and the management of health risks in developing countries is strengthened.
SDG3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Where does France stand ?
View the latest data on SDG3 indicators
Domestic challenges
The law of 26 January 2016 to modernise our healthcare system has made it possible to extend third-party payment to pregnant women and people with long-term conditions, and only a small proportion of the population of mainland France still has to forego medical treatment for financial reasons. This global system helps to achieve “the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being” promoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), alongside the other organisations making up the Quadripartite (World Organisation for Animal Health, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, United Nations Environment Programme). It is being developed, in particular through the National Environmental Health Plan, to consider the “One Health” approach based on the observation that the health of human beings, domestic and wild animals, plants and the environment, including ecosystems, is closely linked and mutually dependent. It also enables us to anticipate health trends : social and territorial inequalities in health, the importance of chronic diseases and the burden of disability, the resurgence of the risk of infectious epidemics, and the level of avoidable premature mortality, which is still too high.
Created in 1945, social security is a guarantee to everyone that, whatever the circumstances, they will have the necessary resources to support themselves and their families in decent conditions.
“ Necessary resources ” means : health insurance, compensation for accidents at work and occupational illnesses, pensions and family benefits.
Looking ahead, France must face two major challenges : equal access to healthcare across the country (urban, suburban and rural) and the ageing of French society with life expectancy at birth in mainland France reaching 85.7 for women and 79.7 for men in 2019 (INSEE). We need to anticipate new needs and new forms of intergenerational solidarity, as well as the funding for these. France also needs to step up its policy for people with disabilities, in terms of accessibility, vulnerability and inclusion in society.
Supporting human fulfilment through a pleasant, healthy quality of life and improving the quality of the environment (water, air, soil) is also taken into account as a means of improving health, in line with a sustainable development mindset.
Finally, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increase in symptoms linked to stress, anxiety and depression, highlighting the need for mental health care in France. France is committed to improving access to mental health care, notably through the MonPsy scheme, which came into effect in 2022 and provides full reimbursement of psychological support sessions as part of a simplified care pathway.
France’s actions
Several framework documents contribute to the effectiveness of SDG3 in France directly or in a more cross-cutting way :
First of all, the National Sexual Health Strategy 2017-2030 breaks with the pathology and risk-based approach and aims to improve overall sexual and reproductive health through an autonomous, satisfying and safe sex life, with the ability to conceive children and the freedom to decide whether or not to conceive.
The Fourth National Environmental Health Plan (PNSE4) 2021-2025 reflects the desire to reduce the impact of environmental factors on health. It focuses on four main areas : reducing environmental exposure affecting human health and the health of ecosystems, improving knowledge of exposure and the effects of the environment on people’s health and on ecosystems ; increasing the number of concrete actions taken by local authorities in local areas ; and providing information, communication and training on the state of the environment and the right steps to take.
The aim of the 2018-2019 National Plan for Risk Management and Efficiency in the Healthcare System is to guarantee high-quality care for all French citizens, combined with the goal of preserving an inclusive healthcare system : ensuring access to the most appropriate care and the most innovative treatments, while keeping healthcare expenditure under control. Since 2019, this plan has been implemented at regional level.
The National Tobacco Control Programme (2018-2022) complements the National Programme to Reduce Tobacco Use which focuses on three priority areas of intervention : protecting young people and preventing them from taking up smoking, helping smokers to quit and taking action on the tobacco economy. The aim of these initiatives is to achieve the first "generation of smoke-free adults" by 2032.
Internationally
The 2023-2027 Global Health Strategy provides a reference framework for health issues. Against a backdrop of major transformations, particularly climatic and geopolitical, this new strategy is the roadmap for all French stakeholders to tackle the challenges of global health in a deeply inclusive and multilateral approach. It unites energies around five major priorities :
- Promote fair, sustainable, resilient, adaptive and people-centred healthcare systems that enable everyone to have access to quality healthcare systems, therefore achieving universal healthcare coverage ;
- Promote the health and well-being of people, and prevent and combat diseases at all stages of life ;
- Better anticipate, prevent, prepare for and respond to public health emergencies and the consequences of climate change, by implementing the “One Health” approach ;
- Promote a new global health architecture that is more solid and inclusive, based on the complementarity of French bilateral and multilateral action ;
- Make French research and expertise levers for action and influence in support of the global health strategy.