François Braun appointed as new French minister of health

François Braun, a 60-year-old medical doctor, succeeds Brigitte Bourguignon as French health minister after the French government announced on Monday (July 4) the names of the new ministers in Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s executive.

Former minister Bourguignon was only in her post for two months, as her defeat in the legislative elections forced her to resign.

Centre-right MP Philippe Juvin (Les Républicains) said he was ‘approached’ by the government but said he “refused” the post of health minister, according to a report in Le Figaro newspaper.

In an interview with EURACTIV on June 12, Juvin criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s and the member states’ handling of the Covid crisis.

The name of François Braun is not unfamiliar to the government, as he previously worked with Macron during his presidential campaign to outline his health program.

On 31 May, he was entrusted by Macron with a one-month “flash mission” to establish the first measures to try to support the healthcare sector as much as possible in the run-up to a summer that promises to be tense.

The 41 conclusions of the mission were released last Friday. Borne announced that she had retained “all the proposals” drawn up by Braun.

Among the key measures was one dedicated to informing the population with a national campaign on the proper use of emergency services, aimed at relieving emergency rooms.

Braun, a former head of the Urgent Medical Aid Services of Moselle and of Metz-Thionville, also spent a stint as president of the union of professionals of emergency medicine structures Samu-Urgences de France (SUdF).

On 20 May, the SUdF sounded the alarm that 120 emergency services had to close or reduce their capacity in France.

However, Braun’s appointment has already raised controversy.

“For us, this appointment is a real provocation,” Christophe Prudhomme, emergency doctor and spokesman for the Association of Emergency Physicians of France (AMUF), said on the television channel franceinfo in reaction to the news.

According to him, Braun has chosen the “power issues and the accompaniment of a policy of degradation of public service.”

“There is a real political problem today and I think there will be a revolt in the world of health and in the population in the face of the disturbing policy advocated by Braun,” he added.

DG of the Red Cross new minister of solidarity
Another new face joined the ministry of health this morning.

The director-general of France’s Red Cross, Jean Christophe Combe, was appointed as Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and the Disabled this morning, replacing Damien Abad, who was previously accused of rape and sexual assault.

Combe joined the Red Cross in 2011 and was its director-general since 2017. He was first a technical advisor in the Senate for the Union Centrist group, then chief of staff to Deputy Bruno Bourg-Broc in 2007 and chief of staff to the Les Républicains mayor of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 2009.

Geneviève Darrieussecq will help him in his functions in her newly-appointed role of minister delegate in charge of the disabled.

The new Ministry of Health already has a number of files on the table, starting with the organisation of the ‘great consultation’ on access to care, promised by Emmanuel Macron during his campaign.

Braun will also have to face the crisis that the public hospital sector in France has been facing for months, which includes a lack of medical staff and poor working conditions.

In addition to this, the management of the Covid crisis is also on the agenda, as the epidemic is on the rise in France. Last Friday, 125,066 people were infected in 24 hours, an increase of 58% compared to the previous seven days. EurActiv