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France to Scrap Holiday to Pay for Elderly Care 
News Scotsman
October 27, 2003

France will scrap a national holiday – the Monday after Pentecost – to finance better health care for the elderly, news reports said today.

Newspapers reported that the measure will go into effect next year and bring in an extra £1.3 billion in revenue.

However, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin’s office said a final decision has not yet been made on the plan to make people work one extra day a year – under consideration since a deadly heat wave in August killed thousands of elderly people.

The day after Pentecost, which fell on June 9 this year, is one of 11 national holidays in France . It is not a holy day in itself, but scrapping it is sure to cause grumbling in a country where leisure time is sacred.

The August heat wave killed nearly 15,000 people in France and thousands more in Europe . Temperatures soared to 40 C (104 F) in France , where air conditioning is rare, and stayed there for days.

Most of the victims were elderly, dying at home alone, in overcrowded hospitals and understaffed retirement homes.

Afterward, a report commissioned by the Health Ministry said officials were slow to realise the scope of the crisis, pointing to a lack of co-ordination, lethargic methods of compiling death statistics and the inability to handle a large-scale geriatrics emergency.

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