French Health Spend Moderates After Rise

The rise in French health spending tracked over six months slowed inSeptember, rising only 0.1%, say data published by the CNAM health fund organization. Rises in August and July were 0.3% and 0.2% respectively. Drug spending also eased in September, after rising 1.1% in August and 1.3% in July.

- The World Federation of Advertisers has attacked an amendment in France's 1998 Finance Bill which imposes a 1% tax on free catalogs, prospectuses, direct mail and newspaper published for a specific brand or company. The WFA says this could threaten economic growth and therefore jobs, and seriously curtail advertisers' communication capability.

Subsidizing one medium by levying a tax on its competitors is "unhealthy and opportune," it says, and warns that although the tax proposed is only 1%, this "does not preclude the temptation....to raise this level further during the coming years."