Italy's lower house approves 'right to be forgotten' law for cancer survivors

[August 04, 2023]  ROME (Reuters) - An Italian law giving cancer survivors the right not to declare their past condition to banks and insurance agencies, shielding them from discrimination, has been approved by the lower house of parliament.

The so-called "right to be forgotten" (RTBF) bill was passed on Thursday with a unanimous vote, indicating rare cross-party support for a reform that will need to be also voted by the upper Senate house before entering into force.

Recovering cancer patients in Italy have been facing numerous challenges due to their medical history as they are more likely to be refused loans or insurance and even be excluded from adoption procedures.

This is "a law that restores dignity and hope to many people," Marco Furfaro from the opposition Democratic Party, one of the sponsors of the bill, said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

In Italy there are one million people who recovered from cancer, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also said on X.

"Those who have defeated cancer cannot be branded for life as second-class citizens," he said.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni holds her end-of-year news conference in Rome, Italy, December 29, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo

In June, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her right-wing government would offer the necessary support to make sure that the RTBF law gets approved in "the shortest time possible."

The proposals would allow recovering cancer patients not to share information about their previous condition with financial institutions, or adoption authorities, provided that 5-10 years had passed since the successful end of their treatment.

Similar laws are already in place in France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal, according to the Italian Medical Oncology Association (AIOM).

(Reporting by Federica Urso, editing by Alvise Armellini and Angus MacSwan)

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