This is a measure that should reassure cancer patients as well as those who have recovered from it. The President of the Republic François Hollande signed this Tuesday March 24 the memorandum of understanding on the right to be forgotten of former cancer patients, at the national headquarters of the League against cancer in Paris.
Concretely, this flagship measure of the government’s third cancer plan (2014-2019) marks the end of the obstacle course for former cancer patients wishing to borrow from the bank or take out insurance. Currently and even when the medical profession considers them cured, banks and insurance companies are reluctant to grant them what they ask for at the usual rate, a double penalty deemed discriminatory. In the future, anyone who has recovered from cancer will no longer have to report their past illness to banks and insurance companies, which will simplify procedures.
For now, the measure will be limited to cancers occurring before the age of 15, if the request for a bank loan or insurance comes at least 5 years after the end of treatment. People who have had cancer after the age of 15 and with a good survival rate will still have to wait, the enlargement of the device not yet having a fixed date. Some will therefore see it as an incomplete measure, since patients who have had cancer likely to recur will still be penalized. Asked by the daily 20minutes, the spokesperson for the League Against Cancer believes that “it is already that”, before adding that “the situation is so catastrophic at the moment that it remains a progress. A table from the National Cancer Institute updated each year will aim to list the cancers concerned by the right to be forgotten and the deadlines to be taken into account.
Welcoming this first step forward, François Hollande also indicated that “tomorrow, the right to be forgotten will apply to all diseases” and will progress with medicine.
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