Cancer Survivorship: Speech by EU Commissioner Kyriakides

Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, friends,

Thank you for being here today. Three years ago, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan began as a blueprint for action. Its goals were clear: to prevent cancer, improve diagnosis and treatment options.

At the time, the Plan existed only on paper. Today, it has become a central pillar of the European Health Union we have been building over the past four years.

Many of the 36 projects of the Cancer Plan supported by the EU4Health programme which are currently underway focus on quality of life.

We know that many of us whose lives have been touched by cancer face unnecessary obstacles and challenges in their lives.

One of these areas is employment. We are just finishing a study on job retention and return to work for cancer patients and those with cancer experience.  The study maps existing policies in EU Member States and further afield.  It also looks at best practices at national level, which could be transferred to other countries and inform future policies.

The stakeholder community was consulted extensively for this study: From patients and healthcare professionals to occupational safety authorities and employers’ associations. And I am glad to announce that we will present the final results on 29 May.

A second area where we see those whose lives have been touched by cancer face obstacles and discrimination involves access to financial services.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In preparing this presentation I found myself thinking beyond the important deliberations going on the last year trying to find a compromise for access to financial services, knowing the challenges faced.

One needs to try and first of all understand why this conversation is happening at all, how it began.

Cancer is a word that has evoked fear and uncertainty for hundreds of years. There were times we were too frightened to say the word at all. And in many countries this is still the case. We say someone has diabetes but then we say someone has THAT disease and not cancer.

We still use war and battle metaphors to describe the patient’s journey- we are in a war, we are warriors, we can fight this, don’t lose this battle, and many other such terminologies.

Such terminology is not always favoured by the cancer community, who may be left feeling guilty if their progress is not in the positive direction, that they did not fight hard enough, that somehow it’s their fault.

Then we use the term survivor. When is a cancer patient actually a survivor? When does survivorship begin? Can we measure survivorship in years after an exact point in the cancer journey?

Many do not like the word survivor. Survivorship according to the American cancer society starts from the moment of diagnosis and there is never a specific end point. Others feel using the term may be tempting fate while others feel it’s empowering.

Why am I having this discussion?

Because I have believed for years, as a cancer warrior or survivor or patient or just someone who has lived cancer experience that it’s time we remove this veil of fear that has surrounded this disease for centuries.

We are not fighting a war as patients. We do not lose a war or the fight because we did not give it our best. We are not survivors if we are cancer free for an exact number of years irrespective of our cancer type but our survivorship journey starts the day we are diagnosed.

We need to speak based on science.

And today, thanks to progress in science, we have better diagnosis, treatment and outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer than ever before. But when persons with a lived cancer experience try to move on with their lives, they still face obstacles.

Like challenges in accessing financial services. The fact that someone with lived cancer experience might not be able to access financial services is deeply discriminatory. Treatment outcomes have changed dramatically. Medical evidence shows this very clearly.

This should also be fully reflected in today’s financial business practice. Since our Cancer Plan was adopted in 2021, there has been a lot of movement towards adopting different measures on the right to be forgotten, at EU and national level.

The Plan was the first initiative to address the topic at EU level.

So I am delighted to see that together with the strong commitment and personal engagement of Dr Meunier and the cancer patient organisations it has been a strong catalyst for change in this area.

Before the Plan, only five countries in the EU had laws or voluntary initiatives on the right to be forgotten. Today there are twelve and more Member States are discussing possible actions. But more than half of the EU Member States still have no dedicated laws or policy in this area.

Last year, a conversation began on how to ensure fair access to financial services for those who have had their lives touched by cancer. We heard the voices of patients, consumers, healthcare professionals and the financial services sector. You looked at financial products related to crucial aspects of life, like housing and professional activities.

You also discussed the amount of time after which relevant financial services should disregard a person’s cancer history. You noted that it is important to define when the time for the right to be forgotten should be shortened – based on cancer types, stages and other risk factors.

Finally, for people diagnosed in their youth or childhood, you discussed establishing shorter time periods for granting the right to be forgotten.

This touches on something very important: supporting younger people with a history of cancer, so that they are not held back by a burden they overcame so early in their lives.

Now we need to find the common ground. I know it was not possible to fully agree on everything. But I think that the exchanges over the last few months have made great progress and have allowed us to understand each other better.

They have raised awareness of this topic in the financial community. And they have built bridges, allowing progress to continue at EU and national level.

So it is important to keep up the momentum on the right to be forgotten and continue the discussions in view of finding an agreement that is fair and sets the highest standard for Europe’s cancer community.

We need to move forward, ahead, away from the belief that all patients with all types of cancer can be put into these types of one size fits all baskets  that will determine their access to financial services – it is the science , type of cancer,  age and other factors that should be taken into account.

Let’s try and find a solution based on the science, possibly that differentiate access to financial services with a staggered adjusted approach. Let’s find a solution that will give those who have been through cancer what they rightfully deserve and end access discrimination.

Let’s move away from concepts that make the words more powerful than the science.

We have managed to start a conversation. This conversation is to bring about real results and it has already brought results.  It’s opened up our minds to new ways forward. Are we there yet? No but at least we know we need act decisively because discrimination against a person who has had a cancer experience is simply not acceptable.

That’s the way we will all be on the same page and bring about change.

That’s what gives all hope and a future.

Source – EU Commission