Just over 20 days ago, first the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, and later the Minister of Health, Jose Manuel Minones, announced that on June 6 the Executive would implement the right to be forgotten oncology. The announcement, which responded to one of the main demands of the group, was received by the patients with satisfaction. From the Spanish Federation of Parents of Children with Cancer (FEPNC) They pointed out to ConSalud.es that they valued “positively” that the Government “has committed to legislating the right to be forgotten oncology in June in the financial field and that it has already legislated the renewal of the driver’s license.”
The proclamation by Sánchez of the dissolution of the Cortes Generales and the call for elections for July 23 that followed the results of the regional and municipal elections, put an end to this initiative that both cancer patients had been waiting for years as with HIV and other health conditions. And, again, another June 4, World Cancer Survivor Day, they are still waiting for the approval of the decree. “Supposes that cancer survivors continue to be discriminated against by financial entities”, the FEPNC stressed days later in a statement.
Barragán: “People like me who have been diagnosed with cancer for 22 years, we are cured and have an absolutely normal life, we cannot take out an insurance policy of any kind”
“We understand the circumstances, but it is the never-ending story,” he adds Begona Barragan, president of the Spanish Group of Cancer Patients (GEPAC) and president of AEAL Spanish Association of People Affected by Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia in a phone call. “People like me who have been diagnosed with cancer for 22 years, we are cured and have an absolutely normal life, we cannot take out an insurance policy of any kind,” recalls Barragán. Nor can they adopt or ask for a mortgage, there are academic obstacles and employment discrimination.
“The laws were adapted to the cancer situations of years ago, when people only had to pray,” says Begoña Barragán. In the 1990s, cancer had a high mortality rate, long survival was in very few cases an option, and of these, many suffered recurrences. “That has changed radically,” Barragán stresses.
Currently, survival in cancer has multiplied with an overall 5-year disease-free survival of 60%. In many cases, the treatments and the damage produced by the tumor itself leave sequelae that can become disabling, such as survivors of childhood tumors. Other former cancer patients after treatment continue with their normal life. “And after certain years the percentage of getting cancer again is like that of a normal person.”
WHY IS FORGETTING NECESSARY?
It is estimated that 41% of childhood cancer survivorsAnyone who has tried to take out health or life insurance has been rejected by insurers, according to data from a study by the FEPNC. As this survey shows, 49% of the participants who had insurance have omitted their history of cancer to avoid financial rejection, while 51% of those who have managed to take out insurance, mortgage or loan has any special conditions, such as increased premiums. It also happens to them with the long survivors who have suffered a tumor during their adulthood.
Children with Cancer: “Legislating the right to be forgotten is a great step forward, but it reminds us that there is still a lot of work to do”
“We have seen cases of employment discrimination, academic obstacles, without going into the fact that insurers reject survivors of childhood cancer when they are going to take out insurance, which affects the application for a loan or the signing of a mortgage”, they indicate from the FEPNC. The regulation of the right to be forgotten It would make it possible to avoid discrimination and rejections by banks and insured parties, something that patients in Spain have requested numerous times.
“We will continue waiting for the laws to be approved, we have no other choice, but it is very frustrating,” says Barragán. The right to be forgotten is not the only objective of these patients who remember that this would only solve financial problems. “There is still a lot to do. Legislating the right to be forgotten is a great step forward, but it reminds us that there is still a lot of work to do”, they conclude from Children with Cancer.
Because health we all need… ConSalud.es
2023-06-03 22:00:50
#Cancer #survivors #continue #forgotten
