2023-04-25 14:32:39
25 avril 2023
Rural areas experience excess mortality of nearly 14,000 deaths on average per year, according to a study by the Association of Rural Mayors of France (AMRF). This denounces limited access to care for these populations.
Living in the countryside is dangerous for health. According to a study by the Association of Rural Mayors of France (AMRF) unveiled Thursday, April 20, the mortality index is higher in rural areas than in cities. And the difference is significant. “At equal age and sex, the mortality index of rural living areas is 6 points higher than that of urban living areas. This corresponds to 14,216 more deaths per year in rural areas than would be expected if life expectancy there were the same as in cities,” writes AMRF.
To compare the mortality indices, the association referred to the INSEE divisions according to population densities. Thus, of the 1,666 living areas identified, 1,287 are considered rural. Over 2020-2021, in these living areas, the average number of deaths was 236,943 for a population of 20.3 million and 425,531 for a population of 48 million in urban areas. The study thus established a mortality index of 104 in the countryside against 98 in the city, or 6 points difference.
Unequal life expectancies
The imbalance is also found in life expectancy at birth, 78.8 years in the “hyper-rural” departments against 80.2 in the “hyper-urban” departments for men in 2021. Among women, the The difference is less but nevertheless exists: 84.9 in the “hyper-rural” departments against 85.5 in the “hyper-urban” departments. The gap would also have widened over the past thirty years, underlines the ARMF.
How can such imbalances be explained? Why is living in town or in the countryside, in France, in the 21st century, a source of inequality? The ARMF points out in its report “the French health disaster” and difficulties in accessing care in rural areas.
Attract healthcare professionals
It formulates four proposals in order to provide this population with a better healthcare offer: “provide the means for health students to do internships outside the place of initial training; set up and develop coordinated care teams around the patient; develop new ways of practicing that can provide a population with rapid and local care”.
Finally, to facilitate the installation of health professionals and fight against medical deserts, the ARMF proposes the creation “the creation of a one-stop support service that centralizes, at the level of each department, territorial needs, financial aid, administrative support and information relating to the professional’s family life”.
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