2023-07-29 04:00:21
A At a time when Public Health France and the National Cancer Institute (INCa) reveal that the incidence of cancer has doubled in thirty years, the question arises as to whether this government and those that preceded it have conducted a policy preventative response to this major public health problem.
Among these cancers, four out of ten are preventable, in other words would not appear if exposure to known risk factors were prevented, foremost among which are tobacco, alcohol and obesity, i.e. 153,000 new cases per year. In France. The example of tobacco control illustrates two major preventive strategies implemented: one aimed at informing the public, and the other attacking the carcinogen.
Fight against smoking, and fight against tobacco: when the two strategies are combined, tangible results are observed. Information campaigns, the Evin law and the measures that followed have enabled a significant reduction in smoking, even if today 12 million French people still smoke daily.
The limits of information
It is clear that in terms of avoidable cancers, it is above all the first strategy that is most widely mobilized by the public authorities. Quitting smoking, reducing alcohol consumption and eating more balanced foods are the most popular messages to reduce the three main risk factors identified to date.
However, we know the limits of this approach. What is the scope of the message “eat well, move well” of the Ministry of Health and Prevention when it is written in small letters at the foot of images praising the taste qualities of ultra-processed foods which are known to increase the risk of obesity and cancer?
Is it really surprising to see a doubling of the number of obese people in twenty-five years when successive governments have been so reluctant to regulate the industrial supply of obesogenic foods? Consumers are warned, but does this exonerate public authorities from their responsibilities? We can fear it by hearing the remarks made by the President of the Republic, declaring on February 4, 2021 that “40% of cancers could be avoided by more virtuous behavior”.
The importance of occupational cancers
As virtuous as you are, how will you avoid being exposed to air, water and soil pollution, the cause of 10% of cancers in Europe? How will you protect yourself against the spread of endocrine disruptors and persistent organic pollutants? Need we remind you of the alarming level of contamination by indestructible chemical molecules called polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) – revealed on February 23 by The world et le « Forever Pollution Project » –, including some probable carcinogens, with nearly 1,000 polluted sites listed on our territory? What about the generalized exposure of the French to pesticides?
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