The government published its plan against bed bugs on Thursday March 10 and appointed an interministerial coordinator to carry it out, the Housing Ministry announced on Thursday.
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"
The Government is today publishing its interministerial plan to combat bedbugs in order to improve awareness and intensify mobilization in all the sectors of activity concerned by this scourge
", writes the ministry in a press release.
Virtually eradicated in France in the middle of the 20th century, bedbugs have made a comeback in recent years.
They nest in mattresses or sheets, their bites are itchy, and they can be particularly difficult to hunt.
The plan, coordinated by François Lefort, until then a member of the General Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development, follows a parliamentary report by LREM MP Cathy Racon-Bouzon.
It has no set overall budget.
"
Each ministry finances on its side, on envelopes of the ministry according to the various programs which concern it
", indicates one to the ministry of Housing.
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A national observatory will be created in September 2022
In concrete terms, several types of actions are planned.
Awareness campaigns for the general public will be launched, including one at the start of 2023, and the ministries will have to raise awareness of the sectors at risk: accommodation, hotels, second-hand trade, health establishments, cinemas, etc. Different professions will receive information messages : health personnel, to better recognize bedbug bites;
tourist accommodation professionals, to limit their spread;
school principals, to better take care of children who have them at home.
A national observatory will be created in September 2022 to collect data on this still poorly quantified phenomenon.
The National Health Security Agency (ANSES) must also submit a report at the end of 2022 on the dynamics of the proliferation of bedbugs and insecticides that are effective or not.
An information notice will clarify the responsibilities of landlords and tenants faced with this problem.
Read alsoRental: who has to pay the costs to get rid of bedbugs?
Departments and metropolises are invited to include disinsectization in their housing solidarity funds for households that cannot afford the interventions.
Municipalities and intermunicipalities, they, “
will be encouraged to act to reduce the risks of cross-infestation linked to the deposits of infested objects on the public highway
”.
This plan was announced in February 2020, at the same time as a dedicated toll-free number (0 806 706 806) and website (stop-punaises.gouv.fr) were launched.
