Awaited for more than six months by associations, caregivers and regional health agencies, a new roadmap from the Ministry of Health redefines French sexual health policy until 2030. On the menu: abortion, contraception, fight against HIV, taking into account
chemsexbut also a response to social and territorial inequalities which still hinder access to rights.
Titled sexual health roadmap 2026-2030it fits into the national sexual health strategy 2017-2030. The General Directorate of Health speaks of “guarantee effective access to sexual health throughout life for all“. The Minister of Health, Stéphanie Rist, assures that “These advances help to remove obstacles and better meet the needs of each person.“.
Sexual health roadmap 2026-2030: five areas to clarify rights
The official document from the Ministry of Health, a plan of 22 actions, first recalls the priorities:
- Prevent earlier and better throughout life, particularly with the deployment ofEducation in Emotional Life, Relational Life and Sexuality (Evars);
- Providing “simpler, more understandable and more equitable access to the provision of sexual health: better organization and visibility of the provision of care (CeGIDD, sexual health centers, community medicine, etc.), simplification of pathways, development of “go-to” systems and creation of health and mediation centers in sexual health, with a target of nine community centers by 2030;
- Accelerate the fight against HIV, STIs and viral hepatitis: strengthening screening, combined prevention and access to PrEP;
- Guarantee access to contraception and abortion: simplification of pathways and equal access throughout the territory;
- Better understand vulnerabilities and reduce inequalities, with particular attention to the most exposed groups: young people, people in precarious situations, people with disabilities, LGBT+ people, migrants, people in prostitution.
“However, challenges persist“, he recognizes, with gaps between territories and audiences. Concretely, the roadmap wants to make the offer more readable.
IVG, contraception, HIV and chemsex: what will change by 2030
In terms of abortion and contraception, the roadmap “consolidates effective access to contraception and abortion, with a view to simplifying pathways and equal access throughout the territory”. It provides for expanded access to emergency contraception, the development of instrumental abortion, more flexible agreements for practicing abortion outside of hospitals, the dispensation of abortifacient medications in pharmacies and a referral, in 2027-2028, to the Ethics Committee on legal deadlines and the specific conscience clause.
On HIV, the Ministry of Health maintains the objective of eliminating transmission of the virus by 2030 by focusing on combined prevention and
PrEP. The roadmap expands access to TPE and devotes a section to chemsex, at the intersection of sexual health, addiction and mental health. On this aspect, psychiatrist Jean-Victor Blanc, addictologist at the Parisian Saint-Antoine hospital (AP-HP), tells AFP that “this is going in the right direction”, but that we will have to “be very vigilant” about the application.
Young people, vulnerable groups: at the center of the national sexual health strategy
Young people remain at the center of the strategy, notably with the finally effective deployment of EVARS at all school levels, the fight against misinformation and the extension of long-term sexual health consultations beyond the age of 26.
Finally, the roadmap promises “increased attention to the most exposed groups” (precariousness, disability, LGBT+, prostitution), with a variation by the ARS and CoReSS, an overseas focus and indicators monitored each year.
Monitoring of this roadmap will be based on the ARS, the CoReSS regional committees, a focus on overseas territories and indicators evaluated each year.