France makes condoms free for people aged 25 and under due to rise of STDs

France will begin offering free condoms in pharmacies for people aged 25 and under.

President Emmanuel Marcon announced the policy, which will come into power from January 1, 2023, during an event about young people’s health.

‘It’s a small revolution for contraception,’ the French leader later said in a video posted on Twitter on Friday.

Health authorities are hoping that the move will help to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as chlamydia and gonorrhea.

It comes as the rate of infections in France has increased by about 30% in 2020 and 2021.

Initially, the scheme was only going to be available for people aged 18 to 25.

But after a French TV presenter and activists challenged Mr Macron on social media over why the condom measure did not include minors, he agreed to expand it.

‘Let’s do it,’ Mr Macron, before tweeting later: ‘A lot of minors also have sex … they need to protect themselves too.’

Since 2018, people in the country have been able to get the cost of condoms reimbursed by the national health system if they were purchased in a pharmacy with a prescription.

But the measure is not well known to young French people. 

Last September, it was also announced that girls and women aged 25 and under can get free birth control as part of government efforts to ensure that all young people can prevent unwanted pregnancy, regardless of income.

But the existing measures do not apply to men, or specifically address access for transgender or nonbinary people.

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