Insight

Belgium will shorten the waiting period for cancer survivors to exercise their ‘right to be forgotten’

Photo from Françoise Meunier/LinkedIn

Aug 29, 2024, 15:39

Belgium will shorten the waiting period for cancer survivors to exercise their ‘right to be forgotten’

Françoise Meunier shared on LinkedIn:

“Starting January 2025, Belgium will shorten the waiting period for cancer survivors to exercise their “right to be forgotten” from eight years to five. This change sets a new gold standard for fairness, aligning with France, which also implemented a five-year waiting period after the end of treatment.

This is a crucial step toward fairness for cancer survivors, but there’s still much work to be done across Europe to protect them from financial discrimination.

There is still a patchwork of legislation across Europe, with only eight EU Member States having enacted similar laws. A recent study I co-authored in The Lancet Oncology highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive European legal framework to address these inequities. Surviving cancer is a monumental achievement, and it’s vital that survivors are not burdened with unjust financial barriers as they rebuild their lives.

Thank you to Nicole Verbeeck for highlighting these issues in Euractiv. It’s time for all European countries to replicate the successful models of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands and work towards a unified approach that ensures no cancer survivor faces unnecessary financial hurdles.

Read the full article here.”

Source: Françoise Meunier/LinkedIn

Françoise Meunier is a member of the science policy committee at the European Academy of Cancer Sciences. Prof. Meunier served as Director-General of the European organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (1991-2015). Prof. Meunier was awarded the Belgian Laureate Prix Femmes d’Europe 2004-2005, conferred the title of Baroness by His Majesty, King Albert II of Belgium in 2007, received the Pezcoller Foundation award in 2009, became a Fellow of the European Academy of Cancer Sciences in 2011. S

he was appointed Chair of Accreditation Council of Oncology in Europe and Member of Alliance for Biomedical Research in Europe in 2015, and has been a member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine since 2006.