French Health Minister aims to expand OTCs

French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand has called for a report on the functioning of the self-medication - or over-the-counter drugs - market in France with a view to reversing the current contraction.

Non-prescription medicines account for between 4% and 6% of the total market - 350 million packs a year - or about 1.6 billion euros ($2.11 billion), according to the sector association Afipa. Sales went down 3% last year in contrast to the position in other European countries. The German self-medication segment, for example, accounts for 12% of the total market and is estimated to be worth 5.0 billion euros.

In contrast, French consumption of self-medication products is very low, with patients generally preferring to consult a doctor. Claude Le Pen, a French health economist, says that self-medication represents an economic potential far superior to that of generics and Afipa estimates that transferring 5% of current prescriptions to self-medication would save some 2.5 billion euros a year for the health funds.