Katie Rizvi, Chief Executive Officer at Youth Cancer Europe, recently posted on LinkedIn:

“Today, on International Childhood Cancer Day, at the High-Level Conference on Ending Discrimination Against Cancer Survivors, at the Belgian Palace of the Academies, I was chairing a panel to demonstrate the urgent need for the Right to be Forgotten with real-life examples of the financial discrimination faced by people after cancer treatment.

Thanks to scientific advancements cancer today is no longer a death sentence. Yet people living beyond cancer are punished for life, charged with high premiums, being denied loans, mortgages, and in some cases the right to adopt … just because of their cancer history. Many of them have the same life expectancy as most other citizens and even higher life expectancy and better health than many.

Since Youth Cancer Europe’s advocacy event in the European Parliament and the launch of the EU Cancer Plan, the Right To Be Forgotten is now law in 8 countries (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Cyprus, and Italy) and discussions are currently taking place in 3 more countries of the 27 European Member States. ‘This is important progress but it’s not enough,’ said Stella Kyriakides of the European Commission earlier today at this landmark event organised by Françoise Meunier at the beginning of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Nicoleta Pauliuc and Delia Nicoară of the Institute of Oncology ‘Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta‘ presented to Romanian case example of passing the R2BF law in 2022, the first Eastern European country to do so, and Christine Chomienne, Vice Chair of the EU cancer Mission referred to meeting with European Network of Youth Cancer Survivors in an earlier consultation and listening to young people’s priorities, including a call for the creation of a European Regulation that harmonises rules and truly protects cancer patients, in place of the current EU project for creating a European code of conduct, with well meaning suggestions only.”

Source: Katie Rizvi/LinkedIn