PARIS: She has been in her husband’s life since he was 15 — first as a teacher, then lover and now as his first lady.
And she will be at Emmanuel Macron’s side when the 39-year-old pro-EU centrist takes office as modern France’s youngest ever president, after winning Sunday’s decisive run-off vote.
Elegant and svelte, 64-year-old Brigitte is her husband’s closest collaborator, whom he has pledged to give an official role at the presidential palace.
“Every night we debrief together and we repeat what we have heard about each other,” she told Paris Match magazine last year. “I have to pay attention to everything, do the maximum to protect him.”
Brigitte has been on the cover of nearly a dozen magazines and at her husband’s side for packed-to-capacity rallies, while the world has been fascinated by the couple’s unorthodox romance.
But before all that she was another man’s wife and mother of three who taught French, Latin and drama. She was on course for a comfortable, if somewhat conventional life.
Brigitte Trogneux was born on April 13, 1953, in Amiens in northern France, which is also Emmanuel Macron’s hometown, into a prosperous family that runs a well-known pastry and chocolate business.
Then in the early 1990s she was astounded by a young man acting in a production of Milan Kundera’s “Jacques and his Master.” It was Emmanuel.
She quickly agreed when he asked her to help him work on a script and thus they began to build a bond.
The teacher, then 39, was “totally captivated” by 15-year-old Emmanuel’s intelligence. The feeling was mutual and two years later he made a bold prediction.
“At the age of 17, Emmanuel said to me: ‘Whatever you do, I will marry you’,” she told Paris Match last April.
Emmanuel Macron went off to finish high school at an elite establishment in Paris, but he kept pursuing her and little by little she was won over.
Brigitte left her husband Andre Louis Auziere, a banker, in 2006 and married Macron a year later. She moved to Paris where he continued his studies and she worked as a teacher.
“When I make up my mind about something, I do it,” she said in a documentary about Emmanuel.
She is described as warm and down-to-earth by those who know her, who also stress her charm and positive nature.
One of them, Gregoire Campion, met her on a beach in the northern resort town of Le Touquet over 40 years ago. Their beach huts were next to each other and he remembers the young Brigitte “wasn’t a party animal” but was “very educated.”
Le Touquet has remained a part of her life and the now grandmother of seven has spent many weekends there with her family. She was at Emmanuel’s side when he cast his ballot there on Sunday.
It is a place to gather with her son and two daughters from her first marriage — who have grown up to be an engineer, a cardiologist and a lawyer.
Yet the life with her politician husband and the massive commitment of the campaign remains a major focus.
“I am lucky to share this with Emmanuel, even if when it comes to politics I haven’t had much choice,” she has said, also voicing the desire to help disadvantaged young people as first lady.
Brigitte: from teacher to France’s new first lady
Brigitte: from teacher to France’s new first lady
94 million need cataract surgery, but access lacking: WHO
- Of the 94 million affected, fewer than 20 percent are blind, while the rest suffer from impaired vision
GENEVA: More than 94 million people suffer from cataracts, but half of them do not have access to the surgery needed to fix it, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
Cataracts — the clouding of the eye’s lens that causes blurred vision and can lead to blindness — are on the rise as populations get older, with age being the main risk factor.
“Cataract surgery — a simple, 15-minute procedure — is one of the most cost-effective medical procedures, providing immediate and lasting restoration of sight,” the WHO said.
It is one of the most frequently performed surgeries undertaken in high-income countries.
However, “half of the world’s population in need of cataract surgery don’t have access to it,” said Stuart Keel, the UN health agency’s technical lead for eye care.
The situation is worst in the WHO’s Africa region, where three in four people needing cataract surgery remain untreated.
In Kenya, at the current rate, 77 percent of people needing cataract surgery are likely to die with their cataract blindness or vision impairment, said Keel.
Across all regions, women consistently experience lower access to care than men.
Of the 94 million affected, fewer than 20 percent are blind, while the rest suffer from impaired vision.
- 2030 vision -
The WHO said that over the past two decades, global cataract surgery coverage had increased by 15 percent.
In 2021, WHO member states set a target of a 30-percent increase by 2030.
However, current modelling predicts that cataract surgery coverage will rise by only about 8.4 percent this decade.
To close the gap, the WHO urged countries to integrate eye examinations into primary health care and invest in the required surgical equipment.
States should also expand the eye-care workforce, training surgeons in a standardised manner and then distributing them throughout the country, notably outside major cities.
The WHO was on Wednesday launching new guidance for countries on how to provide quality cataract surgery services.
It will also issue guidance to help support workforce development.
Keel said the main issue was capacity and financing.
“We do need money invested to get rid of this backlog, which is nearly 100 million people,” he told a press conference.
While age is the primary risk factor for cataracts, others include prolonged UV-B light exposure, tobacco use, prolonged corticosteroid use and diabetes.
Keel urged people to keep up regular eye checks as they get older, with most problems able to be either prevented or diagnosed and treated.
The cost of the new lens that goes inside the eye can be under $100.
However, out-of-pocket costs can be higher when not covered by health insurance.
“Cataract surgery is one of the most powerful tools we have to restore vision and transform lives,” said Devora Kestel, head of the WHO’s noncommunicable diseases and mental health department.
“When people regain their sight, they regain independence, dignity, and opportunity.”
