Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, generally known as Roselyne Bachelot (born 24 December 1946 in Nevers, Nièvre), is a French politician, former Minister of Solidarity and Social Cohesion, and a member of the Union for a Popular Movement, which is part of the European People's Party
She was the French Minister for Health and Sports until 14 November 2010. Since French ministers cannot be members of Parliament, she has been forced to give up her seat as Member of the European Parliament for the west of France. She used to sit on the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. She also was a substitute on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, a member of the delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council, and a substitute for the delegation for relations with Israel.
In 2009, she stated she was shocked by statements by Pope Benedict XVI claiming that condoms promoted AIDS. She encouraged the National Assembly of France to change the legal age to purchase alcohol in France from 16 to 18; the new law took effect in July 2009.
In 2009, Roselyne Bachelot ordered 94 million vaccines for the French Government (and an option on 34 million additional vaccines in 2010) to fight against the H1N1 influenza virus. Less than 10% of French population (about 6 million people) had been vaccinated by the end of the winter.
In November 2010, she was appointed Minister of Social Affairs alongside Marie-Anne Montchamp and Claude Greff in the third François Fillon government. She was supposed to reform the public healthcare system for elderly people, but, due to the budgetary restrictions made necessary by the 2008-2012 global recession, she had to abandon any reform project.
After the victory of François Hollande at the French presidential election in 2012, she was replaced by Marisol Touraine. She decided not to be a candidate in the legislative elections of June 2012. She announced that she would support former Prime Minister François Fillon for the Presidency of the Union for a Popular Movement.
Read more about Roselyne Bachelot: Political Career