French heatwave kills 11,435 in two weeks
By Jo Johnson in Paris
Published: August 29 2003 18:12 | Last Updated: August 29 2003 18:12
The heatwave that roasted France this summer killed 11,435 people in the first two weeks of August alone, making it, in human terms, one of the worst natural disasters in the country's history.
The provisional figures in the first government estimate, published on Friday, do not take into account the abnormally large number of elderly and frail people who have continued to succumb to the effects of the freak temperatures since the end of the heatwave. The head of the French hospital co-ordination service said it was "undeniable" abnormal numbers were still dying.
The government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin, prime minister, has been criticised for failing to snap out of holiday mode to implement measures that might have saved lives. The swath of deaths has also prompted wider soul-searching about modern family life and declining inter-generational solidarity.
The elderly people whose deaths went undiscovered for days and whose bodies were not picked up from overcrowded mortuaries played a part in prompting President Jacques Chirac to call for national reflection on ageing and dependency. He promised that "everything will be done" to correct failings in the health system.
On Tuesday, Mr Raffarin, who has until the start of October to draw up a plan, said France should cancel one of its public holidays to finance better care for the elderly. One scheme would see employers pay an extra day's social security contributions into a special fund, officials aid.
"It would require everyone to pull together," said one government official, who pointed out that employees would be expected to work the extra day without pay for the scheme to succeed. "We don't know yet whether it could raise €1bn or €3bn, but we are analysing which public holiday might be the most lucrative to cancel."
Polls show 70-80 per cent of people say they are willing to work a public holiday if a day's worth of social security contributions is paid into a fund to care for the elderly. French workers are legally entitled to five weeks' holiday and 11 public holidays. The 35-hour week also allows many to take days off during the week.
The idea has also won applause from business. Ernest-Antoine Seillère, president of the Medef employers' lobby, welcomed the proposal. "The idea we might solve some problems by actually working more is a real first in France, at least for the last five or six years," he said, welcoming what would represent another small reversal of the 35-hour week.
However, many politicians and economists have simply dismissed the idea as a gimmick designed to allow the government to deflect what is expected to be stiff opposition to its plans to reform healthcare.
François Hollande, Socialist party leader said the measure "at first looks generous but on closer inspection penalises workers at a time when the government is announcing lower taxes for the better off". Unions have suggested the government should also hold Christmas on leap years and make children join the workforce.
