2023-08-07 06:43:03
What are the names and qualifications of the twenty or so members of the working group set up by the Haute Autorité de santé (HAS) to identify medical “good practices” that would improve the care of people wishing to make a transition? of gender?
Since the installation of this group, in September 2022, the independent public authority responsible for issuing public health recommendations has refused to provide this list before the publication of the conclusions expected for September 2023. “A usual practice to guarantee the serenity of the work and avoid pressure from the outside”, she defends herself.
The Cada requests the publication of the list
This argument was rejected by the Commission for access to administrative documents (Cada), which ordered, in an opinion of July 20, the HAS to be transparent about the composition of this working group following the request of the association Juristes pour l’Enfance (JPE), which has just made the information public.
“It is precisely because the subject is very controversial and delicate that the opacity in which the debates have been conducted so far is unacceptable and undermines confidence in the independence of this group.says Aude Mirkovic, spokesperson for the association for the defense of children’s rights. Everyone must now be able to verify the relevance of its composition and the absence or not of conflicts of interest likely to call its recommendations into question. »
Soaring demand
Because, behind this procedural battle, there is a fundamental question. “Our concern is to ensure that the rules of good practice that could be applicable tomorrow to all patients, including minors, take into account the scientific controversies that exist on this subject and call for caution to protect these young people – which is not always the case today, supports Olivia Sarton, scientific director of JPE.
In the “framework note” published in September 2022 to set the objectives of the working group, HAS recalls the context and the challenge of this mission: responding to the medical challenge posed by the sharp increase in the number of people asking to transition because they do not identify not the sex that nature assigned them. Thus, between 2011 and 2020, the number of hospital stays related to “transsexualism” tripled to 1,615, including 48 patients under 18. That same year, 8,952 people were treated for a long-term condition for trans identity, including 294 aged 17 and under.
“However, we see that puberty blockers, hormonal treatments and even mutilating surgical operations, such as the removal of the breasts, can be prescribed by caregivers to these young minors without it being really known whether this will have any benefit for them. them, and even though these patients do not always have the discernment to measure the consequences, sometimes disastrous, for their future life”, alerte Olivia Sarton.
No comment from HAS
It is precisely for “better structure the management of transidentity”, in particular for minors, that this HAS working group was created. Does its composition reflect the diversity of positions in the medical community on the “trans issue”? To decide, it will be necessary to wait for the publication of the list of its members. When ? For then, the authority refuses to comment, citing another ongoing procedure introduced by the JPE association with the administrative court of Montreuil.
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