title: [The case for a new French public health law at the service of a fairer and more effective national health policy].
abstract: The next public health law in France will need to address a number of issues. A?series of recent reports have highlighted both sharp disparities in health status ? with high rates of premature death and increasing social inequalities in health ? and the need to organize public health. The incoherence of public health policies, the lack of inter-ministerial coordination (a prerequisite for the reduction of health inequalities) and the lack of structure and evaluation in the area of prevention are major weaknesses that the new public health law will need to address. Beyond the inevitable core measures, the new law will also need to promote deep structural reforms, including a unified national policy refocused on key priorities and incorporating non-health sectors, the development of a more effective and coherent prevention policy and, finally, a focus on the issue of inequalities requiring clearly defined integrated measures, not only as a stated principle but as an outcome to be achieved by all health policies. The next public health law will need to be a vehicle for an inevitable and long overdue structuring of public health policy.
authors.affiliation: Université de Lorraine - EA APEMAC - 54000 Nancy.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cambon
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alla
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lombrail
mesh_terms: D005602:France; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006291:Health Policy; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*