Free condoms have been in effect for those under 26 since 1is last January. Overall, Thionville pharmacists do not however observe a strong revival of interest in this essential ally against sexually transmitted infections.
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Today at 8:00 p.m.
“Very, very moderate… We are far from having emptied the stocks”, regrets Jean-Christophe Hamelin-Boyer. The clientele of his pharmacy, located avenue de la Liberation, has not rejuvenated under the features of the under 26s. Since 1is last January, these “young people” no longer have to pay a penny to buy condoms.
Even better than the famous “one franc condom” which had sold more than 7 million copies in 5 months in the mid-1990s, the measure enacted in December by Emmanuel Macron on the occasion of the National Council of refondation (CNR) indeed promotes free access to this essential item in the field of STIs. Not enough to seduce the target audience even though this age group represents 15% of new diagnoses of HIV infection. A rate that has remained hopelessly balanced since 2017…
A good start, really?
“It’s not crazy. No, we really can’t speak of a renewed interest among the youngest, ”we observe at the counter of the Sun pharmacy. However, a timid brightening pierces this somber observation. Enthusiastic by nature, Sébastien Villaume, head of the Lion pharmacy, believes he detects a slight roar of pleasure in his pharmacy. The two brands for the time being affected by this free service, “Eden” and the aptly named “Sortez Couverts!”, would have gotten the better of the competition: “Last month, we ‘sold’ about sixty boxes. It’s a good start “. Enthusiastic and optimistic, therefore.
It’s hard to prove the health professional wrong when he says: “In terms of health, it’s a very good initiative. “But from there to see the emergence of a real craze, there is only one step that the union chamber of pharmacists of Moselle refuses to take.
“Since the start of the operation, I had to deliver three free boxes”
Co-president of the union organization, pharmacist Eric Schiltz evokes the low impact “of a measure that was presented to us as an exceptional step forward. “In his pharmacy, located in Metz, it is an understatement to say that the device has flipped over: “Since the start of the operation, I had to deliver… three free boxes. This disinterest is partly explained, according to him, by the ignorance of this free campaign: “A certain embarrassment can also inhabit the youngest at the idea of going to a pharmacy to buy condoms…” A classic of the gender.
Another hypothesis leads to more slippery ground. It would suppose the distant relationship maintained by the new generations with latex: “In recent years, the condom has become a simple niche market”, observes Jean-Christophe Hamelin-Boyer. An observation shared by his Metz counterpart: “Clearly, we are selling less and less. Which undoubtedly testifies to a youth that protects itself less. “And this does not matter the price…
