Fashion models in France need doctor"s note before taking to catwalk

Fashion models in France will need to provide medical certificates proving they are healthy in order to work, after a new law was introduced banning those considered to be excessively thin.

A further measure, to come into force on 1 October, will require magazines, adverts and websites to mark images in which a model’s appearance has been manipulated with the words photographie retouchée (retouched photograph).

Doctors are urged to pay special attention to the model’s body mass index (BMI), a calculation taking into account age, height and weight. However, unlike similar legislation passed in Italy and Spain, models will not have to reach a minimum BMI.

Under World Health Organisation guidelines an adult with a BMI below 18.5 is considered underweight, 18 malnourished, and 17 severely malnourished. The average model measuring 1.75m (5ft 9in) and weighing 50kg (7st 12lb) has a BMI of 16.

Announcing the introduction of the new rules on Friday, France’s health minister said they were aimed at preventing anorexia by stopping the promotion of inaccessible ideals of beauty.

“Exposing young people to normative and unrealistic images of bodies leads to a sense of self-depreciation and poor self-esteem that can impact health-related behaviour,” the health and social affairs minister, Marisol Touraine, said.

Given Paris’s iconic role in the fashion industry, the measures – passed in 2015 but only just coming into effect – are likely to have a symbolic impact around the world.

The proposals had originally suggested a minimum BMI for models but, following an outcry from fashion executives and modelling agencies, this was ditched in favour of allowing doctors to decide whether a model is too thin.

Agencies who use models without valid medical certificates will face a fine of €75,000 (£54,000) and staff face up to six months in prison. Failing to flag-up retouched images will incur a fine of €37,500, or up to 30% of the amount spent on the advert.

Fashion models in France need doctor"s note before taking to catwalk

Fashion models in France need doctor"s note before taking to catwalk

Fashion models in France will need to provide medical certificates proving they are healthy in order to work, after a new law was introduced banning those considered to be excessively thin.

A further measure, to come into force on 1 October, will require magazines, adverts and websites to mark images in which a model’s appearance has been manipulated with the words photographie retouchée (retouched photograph).

Doctors are urged to pay special attention to the model’s body mass index (BMI), a calculation taking into account age, height and weight. However, unlike similar legislation passed in Italy and Spain, models will not have to reach a minimum BMI.

Under World Health Organisation guidelines an adult with a BMI below 18.5 is considered underweight, 18 malnourished, and 17 severely malnourished. The average model measuring 1.75m (5ft 9in) and weighing 50kg (7st 12lb) has a BMI of 16.

Announcing the introduction of the new rules on Friday, France’s health minister said they were aimed at preventing anorexia by stopping the promotion of inaccessible ideals of beauty.

“Exposing young people to normative and unrealistic images of bodies leads to a sense of self-depreciation and poor self-esteem that can impact health-related behaviour,” the health and social affairs minister, Marisol Touraine, said.

Given Paris’s iconic role in the fashion industry, the measures – passed in 2015 but only just coming into effect – are likely to have a symbolic impact around the world.

The proposals had originally suggested a minimum BMI for models but, following an outcry from fashion executives and modelling agencies, this was ditched in favour of allowing doctors to decide whether a model is too thin.

Agencies who use models without valid medical certificates will face a fine of €75,000 (£54,000) and staff face up to six months in prison. Failing to flag-up retouched images will incur a fine of €37,500, or up to 30% of the amount spent on the advert.

Fashion models in France need doctor"s note before taking to catwalk

Organ donation becomes mandatory in France

France has reversed its policy on organ donations so that all people could become donors on their death unless they join an official register to opt out.

The new law presumes consent for organs to be removed, even if it goes against the wishes of the family.

Until 1 January, when the legislation took effect, unless the person who had died had previously expressed a clear wish for or against donation, doctors were required to consult relatives who, in almost a third of cases, refused.

Those who do not want all or any of their organs to be used must now put their name on a “refusal register” – so far 150,000 people have signed up. The authorities have promised to make it easier for those who wish to refuse by allowing them to join the register online instead of by registered post.

Alternatively, those vehemently opposed to their organs being used can leave a signed document with their next-of-kin or transmit their wish orally to relatives who must make a written declaration of non-consent to doctors at the time of death. The process is explained on the agency’s Facebook page.

In November, the French Agence de la Biomédecine released a film, Déjà-vu2, aimed at encouraging 15- to 25-year-olds to agree to organ donation.

The European Union has highlighted the lack of organs for transplant and the increasing number of patients on waitings lists worldwide. Its figures claim that in 2014, 86,000 people were waiting for organ donations in EU states, Norway and Turkey, and 16 people were dying every day while waiting for a transplant.

In the UK, doctors lament one of the lowest consent rates in Europe, as well as a shortage of donors from black or Asian communities. A record number of organs were donated and transplanted in the UK in 2015-16, but the rate remains short of the target of 80% by 2020. The biggest obstacle remains relatives’ opposition, who have vetoed transplants even from registered donors.

NHSBT, which is responsible for the NHS organ donor register and for matching and allocating donor organs, said it was considering further steps it could take when approaching families to ensure more potential donors’ decisions were not vetoed.

One option would be to no longer ask the next-of-kin to confirm consent or authorisation. Their permission is not required by law if someone has registered a decision to donate on the NHS organ donor register.

Families in Scotland are already required to complete a retraction form to record why they overturned a relative’s decision to donate. NHSBT said a similar form could be introduced across the UK.

Organ donation becomes mandatory in France

France Is the First Country to Ban All Plastic Dishware

France leads the way by being the first country to initiate a widespread ban on plastic dishware.  This is the country’s most recent effort to reduce pollution and be more environmental friendly.

France will ban the sales of single-use plastic plates and cups unless the products are made of bio-sourced materials that can be composted in a domestic composting unit.

France Initiates Ban on Plastic Dishware

The Europe Ecologie-Greens Party initially proposed the ban.  French lawmakers approved the ban on plastic dishware in an effort to reduce the energy consumed and waste produced by the plastic processing industry.  The new law is also one more attempt to reduce the pollution caused by plastic litter.

Initially, ecologists wanted this ban of plastic dishware to be introduced as soon as 2017.  However, it was postponed until 2020 because of Environment Minister Segolene Royal’s initial opposition to the law.  Royal considers the ban an “anti-social” measure — arguing that families who struggle financially regularly use disposable plastic tableware.

Opposition to France’s New Law

Though France’s new measure took effect last month, producers have until 2020 to make certain that all disposable dishes sold in France are made of biologically sourced materials and can be composted.

Ecologists’ organizations praise the new French law and hope it sets an example for other countries.

On the other hand, opponents argue that banning products hurt consumers — even if such products are made of plastic.  Those who oppose the French ban on plastic dishware also claim such measures violate European Union rules on free movement of goods.

Resisting France’s Ban

Pack2Go Europe, a Brussels-based organization representing European packaging manufacturers, is concerned that the French ban could carry over into other countries.  They say they will keep fighting this new French ruling.

According to a report by the Associated Press, Pack2Go Europe secretary-general Eamonn Bates told the multinational nonprofit news agency, “We are urging the European Commission to do the right thing and to take legal action against France for infringing European law.  If they don’t, we will.”

Bates argues there’s no proof that bio-sourced disposable cutlery is more environmentally beneficial.  He also claims that no products made from bio-sourced plastics will degrade in a domestic composting unit.

Bates added, the ban “will be understood by consumers to mean that it is OK to leave this packaging behind in the countryside after use because it’s easily bio-degradable in nature. That’s nonsense!  It may even make the litter problem worse.”

In July, France banned plastic bags — an environmentally conscious move other countries have also made.  But France is the first country to expand these types of bans to plastic dishware.

France Is the First Country to Ban All Plastic Dishware

France moving to ban e-cigarette from public spots, says report

As well as a ban affecting e-cigarettes, France may possibly comply with Australia’s illustration by ordering plain packaging for on tobacco merchandise, says the French newspaper. Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA

France is getting ready to location e-cigarettes on the exact same legal footing as tobacco smoking with draft legislation that aims to ban their use in public locations.

The wellness minister, Marisol Touraine, intends to table a bill on 17 June bringing in anti-smoking measures, Le Figaro reported on Friday.

Not only would France become the first massive European nation to introduce the ban affecting e-cigarettes, but it would also stick to Australia’s example by ordering plain packaging for tobacco goods that display graphic pictures of diseases brought on by smoking.

The proposed bill is more prohibitive than anti-smoking measures adopted by the European parliament in February. It comes at a time when e-cigarette merchants have been springing up across France, which now has nearly one million consumers.

The president of the French Tobacconists’ Confederation, Pascal Montredon, told the Guardian that Touraine was being unrealistic by modelling her reforms on “Anglo-saxon” countries such as Australia and Britain exactly where the cigarette distribution network is fully various from France.

“Tobacconists are fed up with becoming stigmatised at a time when instead the government must be undertaking one thing about the unemployment rate,” he stated. The confederation is pressing for e-cigarettes to be offered solely in tobacconist stores, but the proposed legislation fails to handle this, he explained.

He also explained the government needed to deliver in measures to curb the parallel cigarette market which accounts for 25% of income in France.

Other critics said that studies had proven that smokers are much more influenced by loved ones and buddies in taking up smoking and that extremely number of are influenced by packaging.

Touraine’s workplace did not verify the report in Le Figaro, which was published on the eve of “globe no tobacco day”. But the ministry stated that a “nationwide smoking reduction prepare” was below consideration.

A total 73,000 French smokers die each 12 months from tobacco-relevant cancers.

France moving to ban e-cigarette from public spots, says report

We chose to bring up our severely disabled little one in France

Before I knew it I was unstrapping Ailsa from her buggy and (carefully) laying her on the tarmac in front of the attendant. “Look at her,” I said. “It’s perfectly obvious that she’s disabled.”

While part of me dimly grasped that my behaviour was deranged, I didn’t doubt that I’d be allowed to park. But no – the woman stuck to her guns and watched as, hardly able to see through my tears, I struggled to load Ailsa and her chair back into the car. Something in me had snapped. I couldn’t stop crying for three and a half hours.

Parenting a profoundly handicapped child is a trial anywhere, but my partner, Scott, and I chose to do it in a foreign country. We had no warning Ailsa would be handicapped. My expectations of parenthood involved yummy-mummy-style fantasies of a rural French idyll where our child would grow up bilingual and inoculated against junk food.

Twelve hours after she was born, in London, Ailsa had a massive fit. Doctors advised us to mark her notes “do not resuscitate”, saying she’d probably need ventilation and tube-feeding.

Scott and I had no idea if we’d be able to love our own child. In our first shock, we thought about institutions. We were told by British social workers that babies are better off in families.

If we weren’t able to cope, we’d have to put her up for adoption. That was unthinkable. With seemingly nothing to lose, we went ahead with our move.

The stress that Ailsa’s condition put on us would have been bad anywhere. Night after night, we watched our child go blue as she suffered massive fits. We rowed about everything – but mainly about whose turn it was to sleep. We begged French social services for help, only to be told that our paperwork had not come through. It took 18 months.

By then we were beyond desperate. But struggling with the language, the bureaucracy, the rural environment and caring for a child who’ll never be able to do anything for herself, we found that we had fallen in love – with our child, with the beautiful part of France we live in, and with one another all over again.

Scott and I knew we’d reached a turning-point when we found ourselves at a tribunal passionately arguing that Ailsa – who needs to be watched over 24 hours a day – should not be put into an institution (as seems to be more common for profoundly disabled children in France). The panel listened and granted us 12 hours of outside care a day, paid for by the state.

We’ve been lucky to find a couple in the nearest village who now help us look after her in our home. It means that Scott and I are able to sleep on some nights, and we’ve also been able to start working again. This in turn makes it possible for Ailsa to live with us at home and means that the time we spend with her is quality time, not a sleep-deprived blur.

Scott and I love each other more than ever because we’ve seen each other at our very worst and very best. And we love Ailsa perhaps more than a normal child because we’ve had to do so much for her. That, we’ve come to realise, is the secret of how love grows.

“The Mouseproof Kitchen”, by Saira Shah, is available from Telegraph Books

We chose to bring up our severely disabled little one in France

We chose to bring up our severely disabled child in France

Before I knew it I was unstrapping Ailsa from her buggy and (very carefully) laying her on the tarmac in front of the attendant. “Look at her,” I mentioned. “It’s completely evident that she’s disabled.”

While part of me dimly grasped that my behaviour was deranged, I did not doubt that I’d be permitted to park. But no – the lady stuck to her guns and watched as, hardly capable to see by way of my tears, I struggled to load Ailsa and her chair back into the auto. Anything in me had snapped. I couldn’t quit crying for three and a half hrs.

Parenting a profoundly handicapped child is a trial anywhere, but my partner, Scott, and I chose to do it in a foreign country. We had no warning Ailsa would be handicapped. My expectations of parenthood concerned yummy-mummy-type fantasies of a rural French idyll exactly where our youngster would expand up bilingual and inoculated against junk meals.

Twelve hours after she was born, in London, Ailsa had a huge match. Doctors advised us to mark her notes “do not resuscitate”, saying she’d almost certainly want ventilation and tube-feeding.

Scott and I had no notion if we’d be in a position to enjoy our personal little one. In our first shock, we thought about institutions. We have been advised by British social employees that babies are better off in families.

If we weren’t capable to cope, we’d have to place her up for adoption. That was unthinkable. With seemingly nothing at all to lose, we went ahead with our move.

The anxiety that Ailsa’s condition place on us would have been negative anyplace. Night soon after evening, we watched our kid go blue as she suffered substantial fits. We rowed about everything – but primarily about whose flip it was to sleep. We begged French social solutions for assist, only to be told that our paperwork had not come via. It took 18 months.

By then we were past desperate. But struggling with the language, the bureaucracy, the rural environment and caring for a little one who’ll never be in a position to do something for herself, we discovered that we had fallen in really like – with our child, with the stunning part of France we dwell in, and with 1 an additional all more than once again.

Scott and I knew we’d reached a turning-level when we found ourselves at a tribunal passionately arguing that Ailsa – who wants to be watched in excess of 24 hours a day – need to not be place into an institution (as appears to be a lot more typical for profoundly disabled young children in France). The panel listened and granted us twelve hours of outdoors care a day, paid for by the state.

We’ve been fortunate to uncover a couple in the nearest village who now help us seem soon after her in our house. It indicates that Scott and I are able to rest on some nights, and we’ve also been in a position to start off operating again. This in turn can make it achievable for Ailsa to dwell with us at residence and means that the time we spend with her is quality time, not a sleep-deprived blur.

Scott and I adore each and every other much more than ever because we’ve seen each other at our extremely worst and really best. And we love Ailsa possibly a lot more than a normal child due to the fact we’ve had to do so much for her. That, we’ve come to realise, is the secret of how enjoy grows.

“The Mouseproof Kitchen”, by Saira Shah, is available from Telegraph Books

We chose to bring up our severely disabled child in France

Remote monitoring of rest apnoea remedy in France raises issues

French sleep apnoea sufferers with breathing masks chance having therapy funding withdrawn if remote monitoring determines they are ‘non-compliant’. Photograph: Alamy

Considering that last October folks in France treated for rest apnoea syndrome have been subjected to remote monitoring: medical information is getting recorded, transmitted (normally by means of the internet) and interpreted elsewhere, perhaps major to choices on subsequent remedy. The protests of numerous patients’ associations have gone unheeded.

Remote monitoring, along with other prospects this kind of as teleconsulting, is component of a new branch acknowledged as telemedicine. Although it may possibly be right here to keep, it raises numerous inquiries.

Rest apnoea syndrome is a disorder characterised by pauses in breathing (apnoea) or intervals of abnormally shallow breathing (hypopnea). If these episodes arise too usually they could trigger sleepiness in the course of the day (responsible for accidents at work and on the street) and heart issues (high blood pressure, coronary thrombosis). Among one million and 3 million patients endure from the syndrome in France.

The primary therapy involves wearing a mask at night, to breathe air beneath constant optimistic airway pressure. The required devices are loaned to individuals and installed in their houses by contractors, the price currently being refunded by the social security method.

The number of patients acquiring this treatment is steadily escalating and costs have soared, reaching €440m ($ 575m) in 2011. Early in 2013 the French government published a decree requiring electronic sensors to be fitted and information to be transmitted to check use of the devices. If usage falls beneath a specified degree, patients will be rated as “non-compliant”, with the probability that expenses will no longer be reimbursed. For the very first time in France coverage of overall health expenses is conditional on sufferers wearing the mask during sleep.

The implications reach significantly additional than monetary issues raised by treating rest apnea. It is the very first time that remote monitoring has been enforced to verify patient compliance. Several organisations attempted to cease the decree and an appeal was lodged with France’s Conseil d’Etat, the highest administrative court, but to no avail.

No a single has any idea of the consequences of fiscal sanctions for bad compliance. To assist sufferers getting problems following prescriptions, the global medical community and wellness authorities have promoted remedies based on decision autonomy and incentives. Twenty many years in the past, therapeutic patient schooling was launched to involve sufferers in their own treatment method and to respect their freedom of choice. Remote monitoring, with its mixture of electronic surveillance and punishment, is a quite distinct strategy. It is also unclear how considerably say medical professionals will have when confronted with monitoring benefits or, if prescriptions are justified, how they will be capable to aid sufferers.

With remote monitoring the authorities are waving a stick at non-compliant sufferers, but is there a carrot? Telemedicine experts hope treatment method can be improved by monitoring rest patterns. But at what cost and with what advantages stays to be observed.

A rigorous evaluation will be needed above the following 12 months or two, involving patient organisations. Will they be offered a hearing, or will the authorities be the only ones to have a say?

Dr Nicolas Postel-Vinay is a practitioner at Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris

This story appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde

Remote monitoring of rest apnoea remedy in France raises issues

France attacks "ailing" NHS and claims it has much better roads and rail

In extremely undiplomatic language, the embassy dismissed claims that its government oversees “absurd amounts of inefficient public spending”.

It compares France’s well being services, which it claims is the very best in the world, to the “ailing” NHS which has suffered from many years of underinvestment.

It says: “France’s public paying is based on a diverse tradition of public solutions. Take overall health as an illustration.

“Years of underinvestment forced the Blair government to allocate large sums of cash to the NHS, and the recent government has had to ring-fence funding for this ailing institution.

“In spite of all this, troubles stay the mid-Staffordshire, Morecambe Bay and Colchester scandals illustrate how widespread problems in the NHS are. The French program, by comparison, which is completely totally free of charge came leading of 191 nations in the Planet Well being Organisation’s rankings for total overall health care. France also gives twice as a lot of hospital beds per citizen as the United kingdom.”

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, mentioned: “We may possibly face stiff competitors from the French on cheese &amp wine, but there’s a purpose the NHS helps make us more proud to be British than any other institution.”

The embassy goes on to criticise Britain’s infrastructure. “Equivalent success exists in infrastructure, from high-pace rail to power,” it says.

“France has usually sought to attain higher efficiency and will carry on to do so in spite of potential spending budget cuts. Clearly, when you reside in France – from well being to infrastructure and energy costs to transport – you get more bang for your euro.”

Dominic Raab, a Conservative MP, stated: “The histrionic response of the French Ambassador only magnifies the increasing sense of Gallic insecurity commentators speak about.

“There’s a explanation London is now the sixth greatest French city, and that’s because an increasing quantity of French workers recognise their socialist experiment has failed. ”

The embassy’s intervention follows an report in the City A.M. newspaper which mentioned that France’s financial “sickness” was the solution of an “overbearing state [and] horrendously substantial tax amounts.”

François Hollande, the French President, last month authorized a 75 per cent tax fee for the highest earners, regardless of criticism that it would lead to an exodus of productive businessmen and girls.

However, the embassy claims that the French tax method is “fundamentally more redistributive” than Britain’s.

It also suggests that middle income earners face reduce tax rates, with those earning far more than £32,011 in Britain paying 40 per cent in contrast to a 30 per cent charge in France for these earning up to £59,0000

It says: “France’s redistributive program is a political and social selection and one for which the French government requires complete accountability.”

The City A.M. column also suggests that France has a “generalised hatred of commerce”. In response, the embassy says that the strong trade relationship amongst Britain and France means that Anglo-French relations are “unaffected by any generalised hatred”.

The embassy says the criticism “misreads the two the real predicament in France – which remains the world’s fifth greatest economic system and quantity two in Europe – and the seriousness with which the French government has set about reforming the country”.

France attacks "ailing" NHS and claims it has much better roads and rail