59

In all developed countries, primary care has flourished over the past decade or two. Promoted by the Anglo-Americans and rapidly adapted to the French context, as soins primaires, the notion—tinged with militancy, excessively commented on but inconsistently explained—continues to give rise to misunderstandings and even irritations. Yet there are epidemiological, sociological, and economic arguments in favor of the concept, and the next generation of caregivers support it too. Most of all, the expectations of patients, particularly those who are aging and suffering from multiple chronic illnesses, an ever-larger group, are driving us to seek the most fluid and reassuring pathways possible.