The government will approve a legal norm to guarantee the ontological ‘right to be forgotten’ next June. This was announced by Spain’s acting president Pedro Sanchez at a meeting with various associations involved in the fight against cancer. This rule will be applicable to all those who have completed cancer treatment before 5 years from the date of signing the contract, without any interruption afterwards.
As Sanchez explained, the government seeks to declare null and void all clauses based on a history of cancer that exclude or discriminate when contracting products or services; prevent the insured’s cancer history from being taken into account in order to enforce more onerous terms in insurance contracts; Or establish the right not to declare that a person is suffering from cancer when taking out mortgage insurance for the first time.
“We are going to recognize the right to forget oncology of all those patients who defeated cancer,” Sánchez assured. According to the President, “They will no longer face discrimination when it comes to signing mortgages or getting insurance or credit. This is useful politics, this is what a government that is sensitive to the people and that does to the majority of the people” protects the interests of
Sanchez’s announcement is linked to a directive that the European Commission plans to implement to avoid discrimination against patients and will be issued before 2025. Similarly, the European Parliament has already approved a similar measure in 2022.
According to figures from the Spanish Association Against Cancer, an estimated 2.2 million people could be affected by this decision. The unit, through social networks, has shown its positive assessment of the announcement that it considers “a great step for the social protection of patients”.
However, both this unit and others involved in the fight against oncological diseases have pointed out that the ‘right to be forgotten’ is “not the only problem they face”.
In this sense, they remember that there are also other growing social needs, unwanted loneliness, work problems and specific health needs magnify the dimensions of the problems of this group in a society, such as the Spanish one, that is aging rapidly. Used to be. These associations remind people that 21% of cancer survivors have had to stop working because of the disease and 14% have had to change jobs.
