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Resolution on Survivorship (Financial Discrimination)

14 September 2018

Developed together with member societies of the European Cancer Organisation and its Patient Advisory Committee, and including a public consultation period, the resolution on Survivorship (Financial Discrimination) reads:

'By 2025, in respect to accessing financial services*, the right of cancer survivors not to declare their cancer 10 years after the end of the active treatment** and 5 years if they had cancer under 18, should be codified across European countries.'
 

* For the purposes of this resolution, “financial services” are understood to refer to services and products provided to consumers and businesses by financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms, consumer finance companies, and investment companies (Source: investorwords.com).

** For the purpose of this resolution, “active treatment” does not include maintenance treatment with hormonotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy or other therapies based on sound and increasing evidence.

** This amendment was proposed and agreed by delegates at the ECCO 2018 European Cancer Summit

The resolution was passed during the 2018 European Cancer Summit.

 

Supporting Actions

  • By September 2019, European level patient organisations, healthcare professional and research associations and other stakeholder organisations should express a single consensus view on further measures to reduce the financial discrimination of those who survive cancer and/or live with cancer as a long term condition. Along side financial services, this examination should include consideration of any financial discrimination evident within national welfare systems.

  • By the end of 2020, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority should issue guidance to insurers about the ethical principles that should apply in respect to cancer patients and cancer survivors insurance applications. This should include travel insurance, critical illness policies and definitions of cancer used by insurance companies.

  • By 2021, an EU level comparative study of EU member states approaches towards ensuring the rights of cancer survivors to access financial services in a fair manner should be conducted.

  • By 2022, national Governments should recognize the inequities and disparities that exist within the financial service landscape in respect to cancer survivors, have assessed their national legal frameworks accordingly, and proposed remediating measures, learning from the experience of France in this respect. This recognition could be expressed via a set of European Council conclusions.