Wednesday, March 14, 2012

La Pharmacie: Paris aime l’amour

Parisian pharmacies are like American gas stations in the 1970’s, one on every corner. French pharmacies are individually owned, personality driven and well frequented. As with your butcher or your cheese monger, if you spend any time in Paris you will develop a relationship with your local pharmacist. Your pharmacien or pharmacienne can recommend a local internist or pediatrician, often for a same-day appointment, and treat minor scrapes and illnesses potentially saving you a doctor’s visit. If you do end up at the doctor’s office it won’t set you back that much. A visit to a General Practitioner, or Specialist with Generalist certification costs 23€. For those enrolled in the French healthcare system, the co-pay is 1€.

© 2010 Alertesante.unblog.fr
The major distinction between French pharmacies and American drugstores is that medications of any kind, even non-prescription ‘over the counter’ remedies such as aspirin and ibuprofen, are available only in pharmacies in France.

For travelers it’s a good idea to carry copies of your prescriptions as well as the generic name of any medications you take. Prescription drugs in France are often a fraction of the cost of the same product in the U.S. Many pharmacists are aware of these enormous price discrepancies and will happily send you on your way with a several month supply of reasonably-priced medications.

Pharmacies also function as parapharmacies with a wide selection of beauty and personal hygiene products as well has non-prescription vitamins and supplements. The range of creams, lotions, hair-removal waxes and hair-restorative potions rivals that of most beauty supply shops. While prices are fixed for medications, they can vary considerably for beauty supplies so it’s worth doing some price comparison in stand-alone parapharmacies, or in the parapharmacie sections of supermarkets like Monoprix.

Woman’s Best Friend
© Paris City Hall
While the news in the U.S. these days is rife with debate about access to contraception, this is not a discussion you’ll have anywhere in France, and the topic hasn’t been on the table for decades. France has one of the highest contraceptive use rates in the world. Most oral contraceptives are covered by insurance, and in any case, are very inexpensive, generally from 2-10€ per month. The morning after pill and emergency contraception, as its name would imply, are available in pharmacies without a prescription. Condom dispensers are to be found outside pharmacies for off-hour access and the Paris City Hall regularly has amusing campaigns to increase awareness of and protection against maladies sexuellement transmissibles (STDs).  

Last spring, the greater Paris region, Ile-de-France inaugurated its “pass santé contraception”, a coupon book distributed to high school students by the school nurse, with tickets for free consultations with health professionals, free blood and medical testing, and free contraception for a 3-6 month period. The impetus behind this move was to encourage responsible behavior and to reduce the number of teen pregnancies and abortions in France. Could it be that similar policies might decrease the teen pregnancy rate in the US which is three times higher than that of France? It’s something to think about.

© 2009 Têtu
Condoms Protect Against AIDS
Odette 13,874 Condoms


La Pharmacie/ The Pharmacy

Le pharmacien, la pharmacienne/pharmacist
La parapharmacie/drugstore specializing in beauty and hygiene products
La pharmacie de garde, de nuit/On-call, or night, pharmacy
L’ordonnance/prescription
Le rhume/cold (n.)
Le rhume des foins/hay fever
Le mal à la gorge/sore throat
Le nez bouché/stuffy nose
Les états grippaux/flu symptoms
La fièvre/fever         
L’ibuprofène/ibuprophen (Advil, Motrin)
Le paracetemol/acetaminophen (Tylenol)
Le somnifère/sleeping pill
Les boules Quiès en mousse/foam ear plugs
La malade sexuellement transmissible (MST)/sexually transmitted disease (STD)
L’infection sexuellement transmissible (IST)/sexually transmitted infection (STI)
SIDA/AIDS
VIH/HIV
La pilule/birth control pill
La pilule du lendemain/morning after pill
La contraception d’urgence/emergency contraception
Le préservatif/condom
L’additif/additive (don’t ask for condoms when you want to know about preservatives!)
La capote/condom (slang)

JE VEUX LES BONBONS!



 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWkZ_StRjU0&feature=player_embedded

Sources
Advocates For Youth, http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/component/content/article/419-adolescent-sexual-health-in-europe-and-the-us

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