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Françoise Meunier

Feb 15, 2025, 13:17

Françoise Meunier: 1 year since the High-Level Conference on Ending Discrimination Against Cancer Survivors

Françoise Meunier, Founder of the European Initiative on Ending Discrimination Against Cancer Survivors, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“1 year since the High-Level Conference on Ending Discrimination Against Cancer Survivors: progress continues, but challenges remain!

One year ago, I had the honour of organising the High-Level Conference on Ending Discrimination Against Cancer Survivors under the auspices of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2024. Gathering policymakers, advocates, survivors, legal experts, we made it clear: we need to end financial discrimination against cancer survivors.

One year later, we can reflect on some of our progress:

Slovenia unanimously approved the RTBF foreseeing a 7 year delay for adults, and a 5 year waiting period for those diagnosed before the age of 21.
Belgium reduced the RTBF from 8 years to 5 years as of 1 January 2025. It is also no longer required to disclose having had cancer when applying for insurance after the right to be forgotten period has passed and the RTBF was extended to travel insurance.
France’s CNP Assurances launched a fantastic initiative, allowing breast cancer survivors to obtain home loan insurance without extra charges or reduced coverage, starting immediately after completing their treatment.
Spain launched a Q&A guide on the RTBF, providing crucial clarity on this fundamental right.
Ireland included the RTBF in their government programme.
Greece took a great first step towards protecting cancer survivors and implemented a Code of Conduct , stipulating that insurance companies will not use the history of a candidate’s cancer patient 10 years after completion of treatment and 5 years, if the diagnosis of cancer was made before the age of 18.

While celebrating this significant progress, let’s keep the momentum going and drive further change.

More national action is needed—while some EU Member States have taken steps, others still lag behind.
A harmonised EU-wide framework is crucial to protect survivors’ financial rights across Europe.
A Supporting Implementation Network must be created to share best practices and drive change at the EU level.

For speeches, presentations, and photos from the conference, visit my website.”

Françoise Meunier: 1 year since the High-Level Conference on Ending Discrimination Against Cancer Survivors