What is oncological oblivion and how will it change in June in Spain?

The Association of Financial Users (Asufin) has applauded the announcement made this Saturday by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to guarantee “finally” the right to be forgotten oncology. A recognition to which the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) has also joined.

For the latter it is “a great step for the social protection of patients”. “With this measure, as important as it is necessary, Spain is at the forefront of Europe following in the wake of countries such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and Romania”, the AECC celebrated in a statement.

Specifically, he stressed that with it, patients “will have a regulatory framework that prevents them from feeling obliged to report their cancer history when requesting insurance to contract financial products or services and that they can access them.”

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The president of Asufin, Patricia Suárez, explained that it is an issue on which the association has insisted on “repeated” occasions, given that “the discrimination to which these patients are subjected represents a true financial crossroads for them and their families in no way understandable”.

Along the same lines, Asufin has stressed that it is “crucial” that, after a few years of finishing treatment, patients are no longer labeled as cancer patients.

What will the new legislation consist of?

The Government will promote a legislative initiative aimed at “or declaring null and void all the clauses based on the oncological history that exclude or discriminate when contracting products or services”, or “preventing the insured's oncological history from being taken into account to impose more burdensome conditions in insurance contracts, or “establish, for the first time, the right not to declare that cancer has been suffered when going to take out insurance linked to a mortgage loan”.

As reported by the Presidency of the Government in a note, this new right will benefit all people who have completed cancer treatment five years before the date of signing the contract, without subsequent relapse.

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It will be carried out through the modification of Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of November 16, which approves the consolidated text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users and other complementary laws, and of the Law on Insurance Contract, something that “will be a reality in June”, which will be when the parliamentary process of this reform ends.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament included this right in a resolution last year in which it established 2025 as the limit for all member countries to include it within their respective legislation.

What does the concept ontological forgetfulness refer to?

People who have suffered from cancer continue to live with that experience for the rest of their lives, even when accessing certain opportunities. The intention of the associations and the measure announced by Sánchez is that they have the same rights and options as a citizen who has not suffered a tumor.

The medical and disease history will not have to be disclosed in order to contract insurance, loans, financial transactions or purchases such as housing. Your medical experiences cannot be used against someone who has gone through cancer.

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Once 5 years have passed after overcoming the disease, they will not have to be discriminated against or pay additional costs due to an alleged greater risk that they will not finish paying for what they contract. Until now, on many occasions, they were exposed to more rigorous conditions.