back
|
|
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.
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
Terms of Use | Privacy
Policy | Contact Us
|