Hosting a global event such as the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games falls within the scope of Santé publique France’s ongoing missions. As such, the agency has been preparing for over two years in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Solidarity, Paris 2024, and its partners.
As part of the preparations for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Santé publique France has:
conducted a literature review on health challenges during large gatherings;
mapped health risks, in conjunction with the broader initiative led by the Directorate General for Health;
contributed to the development of prevention measures in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Interministerial Delegation for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (DIJOP).
We are mobilized at both the national and regional levels to:
implement a system for health monitoring and enhanced epidemiological surveillance;
contribute to efforts to raise awareness among healthcare professionals regarding the reporting of health events that may require investigations or management measures, in coordination with all relevant stakeholders;
raise awareness of risks to public health;
be able to issue alerts and provide an operational response by mobilizing strategic stockpiles of health products or the public health reserve.
During the 2024 Olympic Games, Santé publique France will implement an enhanced surveillance system, in collaboration with its partners, building on existing surveillance systems that will be strengthened to address the challenges associated with this type of event. Surveillance will cover all populations present in mainland France from July 8 to September 15, 2024. It will be implemented at the national level to provide an overview of the entire territory, but also in the Île-de-France region, where the majority of events will take place (Olympic venues, villages, fan zones), and more generally in the regions during events and around venues hosting competitions.
Santé publique France will produce daily national updates and regional updates for the regions affected by the Olympic Games. These updates will be intended to report alerts identified through the various activated surveillance systems to health authorities. This data will be synthesized and presented in a weekly national bulletin and regional bulletins published on our website.
detect early health signals that could lead to alerts and conduct epidemiological investigations to enable the implementation of prevention or control measures in the event of an alert (e.g., food recalls, targeted vaccination, etc.);
rapidly assess the impact in the event of a health incident or exposure to one or more environmental hazards suspected of having an impact on health, in order to inform decision-makers and provide data to support the implementation of management measures;
provide quantitative data on health events occurring in the context of the Olympic Games.
the SurSaUD® syndromic surveillance system (data on emergency department visits from the OSCOUR® network and SOS Médecins associations, all-cause mortality data, and electronic death certificates);
the surveillance system for notifiable diseases (MDO);
microbiological surveillance systems in collaboration with the National Reference Centers (NRCs);
surveillance systems based on networks of volunteer laboratories, physicians, and hospital departments;
microbiological surveillance of wastewater (SUM’eau);
In addition, existing surveillance systems will be strengthened during the Olympic Games period, such as those for drowning, arboviruses, and air pollution.
In addition to these systems, new surveillance systems will also be operational during the Olympic Games period, such as international monitoring of infectious disease signals supported by the ECDC, or surveillance conducted in partnership with the Paris Fire Brigade, the SAMU, and emergency response teams. These new surveillance systems may continue to operate after the Olympic Games.
Level 1 is active throughout the country. It corresponds to the routine monitoring carried out by the Agency through its core systems.
Level 2 will be deployed in the seven regions hosting competitions: Île-de-France, Hauts-de-France, Pays de la Loire, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and Centre-Val de Loire. In addition to routine monitoring, it mobilizes the SAMU (emergency medical services) and the contingency plans established by Paris 2024.
Level 3 applies to the Île-de-France region, which hosts the majority of the events. Monitoring relies on all systems active at Level 2 and is supplemented by reports from the contingency response teams and data from the Paris Fire Brigade.
Large-scale gatherings can pose health risks, which may be linked to the introduction of diseases into the country, disease transmission facilitated by person-to-person contact, or exposure to risks present in France.
The timely identification of an unusual health event and/or any event that may pose a threat to public health relies in particular on the rapid reporting of such events to health authorities by healthcare professionals in the field, notably the Regional Health Agencies (ARS). This enables appropriate investigations and management measures to be implemented as quickly as possible.
In this context, ahead of the Olympic Games, healthcare professionals (hospital and private practitioners, laboratory biologists, etc.), those mobilized for the Olympic Games (first responders, firefighters, etc.), as well as doctors from foreign delegations authorized to practice in France during the Games, are thus made aware of the importance of immediately reporting unusual health events and notifiable diseases to the ARS.
Documents needed for reporting and guidelines on how to proceed depending on the specific condition are available on the Santé publique France website (under the “Reportable Diseases” section and in the thematic files for each disease).
Learn more: list of notifiable diseases
Santé publique France works daily to positively influence the public’s health behaviors. Through numerous information and support initiatives (such as Tabac Info Service and Manger bouger), it empowers everyone to take control of their health. During the summer, the Agency also focuses on specific risks such as those related to heat, mosquitoes, and drowning.
For the Olympic Games, Santé publique France has been involved in developing prevention measures to be implemented among the general public. This work has helped identify priority themes in the context of the Olympic Games and make recommendations on prevention actions and messages that need to be reinforced. In line with the main health risks identified, three priority themes were selected: heat waves, measles, and arboviruses (particularly dengue fever).
The distribution of our materials (posters, leaflets) has been expanded, and given the influx of non-French-speaking tourists, they have been translated into English. Through a partnership with the RATP in the Île-de-France region, these prevention messages will be disseminated to the many visitors using public transportation, particularly near competition venues.
Furthermore, due to the resurgence of measles and imported dengue cases in the country, new materials have been produced in light of the risks these diseases pose in the context of the Olympic Games (measles practice guide, leaflet on the 5 good reasons to get vaccinated against measles, arbovirus practice guide).
Santé publique France is also collaborating with the WHO, the ECDC, and the MTSS to develop a document summarizing the key prevention messages for foreign travelers coming to France for the Olympic Games.
Learn more
As is the case throughout the year, the Health Reserve can be mobilized during the Olympic Games in the event of an exceptional health situation requiring additional human resources (e.g., an epidemic, a heat wave), and will be able to respond very quickly.
Managed by Santé publique France, the Health Reserve consists of volunteer healthcare professionals capable of providing backup in the event of an exceptional health situation requiring additional human resources. It can be mobilized by the Ministry of Health, as well as by the directors of the Regional Health Agencies, for generally short-term assignments, in France or abroad.
