Read an article today about why Americans think alcohol has health benefits and it's apparently another "well the French are healthy and they do X so it's healthy to do X."
So here's your periodic reminder that France (and Italy, and Sweden, and Japan, and basically every country you've seen in a "this country is so healthy, what's their secret?" headline) has universal health care.
The secret is access to health care. It's always access to health care.
Indeed France has a spectacularly good universal healthcare system - they also have a world renowned treatment facility for cirrhosis of the liver and liver disease in general in one their hospitals in Paris - that says something about what the French lifestyle/alcohol culture does for your health. Having lived and worked in France, I can say from experience that life in France revolves almost entirely around the consumption of alcohol.
