In 2003 France suffered the hottest summer of the last 50 years. By the end of the heat wave the French Institute of Health and Medical Research said there had been 14 802 deaths related to the heat. Failure to grasp the severity of the crisis probably delayed timely decision making by public officials.
Figure 1.
Main topics of heat related reports
The first heat related death was reported nationally on 9 August. Because selection and interpretation of news content depends—whether consciously or unconsciously—on the expectations of the general public and various pressure groups, analysing media coverage is a way to gauge a country's attitude to a given event.
We analysed the content of press articles on the heat wave before and after 9 August. We reviewed 509 reports dealing with the heat wave from France's most popular television station and three of the largest newspapers, Le Monde, Le Figaro and Libération. Special attention was paid to mention of heat related medical problems and advice to old people.
Before 9 August most articles on the heat wave dealt with economic and ecological aspects, such as the impact on the operation of nuclear power plants, farm production, pollution, and the effects on trees and animals. Stories dealing with human aspects were devoted to workers on the job, cyclists in the Tour de France, and prison inmates. The public health dimension was overlooked completely, and no mention was made of the dangers for high risk groups, such as elderly people.
After 9 August the media began to track the rising death toll, especially among old people. However, most commentary was directed at the political fallout caused by the healthcare system's lack of reaction to the situation.
Figure 2.
French workers install beds inside a refrigerated warehouse for corpses
Credit: THOMAS COEX/GETTY IMAGES
Journalists did not really take into account messages aimed at preventing illness from the heat and the situation of elderly people. Still not realising the severity of the disaster, the media continued to dwell on the hardships for Tour de France riders and premiership football players. Preventive alerts and warnings sometimes issued at the local level were not repeated nationally.
By grouping media story topics according to date during the heat wave we were able to establish the importance given to the different topics reported in the media. Our results speak sadly of the value that French society places on elderly people and public health policy. The adverse effects of the heat on trees and animals were emphasised much more than possible life threatening complications in old people. The problems of farmers overshadowed those of healthcare providers. The difficulty for nuclear power plant production was given precedence over the strain placed on the healthcare system, which was stretched to the limit in terms of bed capacity and medical personnel.
This crisis disclosed the glaring absence of a public health culture in France. The media and public figures were ill prepared to inform people of the simple, cheap, and well documented measures to prevent heat related deaths.
After the scandal in France involving blood contaminated with HIV the former social affairs minister declared that she was “responsible but not guilty.” In the aftermath of this summer's tragedy we should admit to our shared responsibility and guilt. To avoid a future national health tragedy we must develop a public health culture in France that is based on community empowerment and personal involvement.