Momentum for reinforced prevention and appropriate monitoring
The new health book, now extended to 128 pages, offers updated content to meet current challenges. Among the key themes covered:
- The screens : New prevention messages warn of the risks linked to overexposure to screens, with a strict recommendation to avoid their use before 3 years of age. Parents are also encouraged to favor direct interactions to promote the child’s psychomotor development.
- Food : Specific advice is given on dietary diversification, in particular the introduction of gluten between 4 and 6 months.
- Prevention of violence : The notebook includes pages dedicated to raising awareness against physical and psychological violence, intended to guide parents towards a caring education.
The notebook details the 20 compulsory medical examinations, with the addition of a new examination at 6 years of age. This pivotal moment makes it possible to detect learning disorders early, monitor weight and assess the mental health of children when they enter primary school.
The screening grids for neurodevelopmental disorders have been enriched and included in mandatory consultations, allowing professionals to better identify warning signs and guide families if necessary.
An opportunity for adapted pediatric monitoring
Despite these criticisms, the new health record offers health professionals an enriched and structuring tool for monitoring children. It represents progress in terms of prevention and parental support, even if a faster transition to digital would have been desirable.
Professionals are invited to fully exploit the notebook’s resources to deepen the dialogue with families, while anticipating the future integration of digital tools.
2020 health report: Frédéric Bizard denounces a worrying technological delay
Frédéric Bizard, economist and professor at ESCP Europe, severely criticizes the absence of a digital version of this notebook, which he describes as a flagrant failure of public institutions in terms of digital management. According to him, this inability to integrate a digital solution into children’s health monitoring is symptomatic of fragmented and ineffective governance of health technologies. Indeed, the Ministry of Health announced that the digital version would only be available in 2026, which leaves one skeptical about the country’s real capacity to integrate new technologies into public health management.
The main obstacle according to him lies in the governance of digital health in France, which is fragmented between several entities (Ministry of Health, Health Insurance, Digital Health Agency, etc.), each with poorly defined missions. This generates delays in innovation and the implementation of digital solutions, such as the health record. This observation of disorganization is also underlined by other experts in the sector. However, reforms have been undertaken to improve this situation, in particular with the establishment of “My Health Space”.
It also evokes a certain reluctance among certain senior officials, who fear the high costs of digital technology or the loss of control over citizens’ sensitive data. This hesitancy to adopt new technologies could undermine the effectiveness of public health management in the long term. Indeed, while countries like Estonia and Denmark have been able to adopt advanced digital solutions in their health systems, France seems to be lagging significantly behind.
The economist highlights the potential savings that the integration of a digital notebook would allow: according to him, such a transition could allow considerable savings in the short term, estimated between 5 and 10 billion euros, while reducing the ecological impact linked to the printing of millions of paper notebooks. Although these figures are difficult to confirm, the very principle of dematerialization presents numerous advantages, in particular for families and health professionals, who would benefit from faster and personalized access to the child’s medical information.
An impact on the credibility of public authorities
The inability of public authorities to offer a digital solution also highlights a loss of credibility, believes Bizard. It questions the State’s capacity to regulate and evaluate the health system when it fails to deploy a basic digital tool such as a health record. This situation raises questions about the overall performance of the health system, particularly with regard to prevention policies and health data management.
His conclusion is clear: “In 2025, depriving ourselves of digital opportunities amounts to downgrading our health system to the level of emerging countries. »
