Life After Cancer — Facing New Challenges
Young adults who survive cancer often achieve long-term remission, but many continue to face discrimination long after treatment ends. This can affect everyday life in significant ways: securing insurance or loans, pursuing careers in the civil service, or even starting a family can be made more difficult simply because of a past diagnosis. Despite being medically healthy, survivors are often treated as “risk patients,” creating barriers to full participation in work, finance, and social life.
In Germany, around 16,500 young adults aged 18 to 39 are diagnosed with cancer each year, and approximately 2,100 children. Thanks to modern treatments, more than 80 % survive long term, yet survival alone does not guarantee equal opportunities. For survivors, the challenge is not only to recover physically but also to regain full social and professional participation.
The Right to Be Forgotten ensures that, after a reasonable period of remission, a past cancer diagnosis cannot be used to the disadvantage of survivors. This includes decisions around insurance, credit, employment, and adoption. The principle is designed to give survivors the same opportunities as people who have never had cancer.
In 2023, the EU Consumer Credit Directive (2023/2225) introduced a legal requirement for EU member states to prevent the use of personal health data in consumer credit decisions after a defined period. Germany must implement this by November 2025. While this is an important step, current national provisions remain limited and inconsistent, leaving many young survivors still disadvantaged.
Several EU countries, including Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Cyprus, and Slovenia, have already implemented broader protections for cancer survivors. Some have also introduced voluntary codes of conduct for insurers, ensuring fair treatment. Germany, by contrast, still lacks comprehensive legal safeguards, leaving young adults vulnerable to discrimination.
Survivors’ experiences highlight the ongoing challenges:
“I am cancer-free and medically fully healthy for 20 years. Yet to this day I experience disadvantage because of my medical history. When I became an adult, I wanted to change my private health insurance as part of my dual studies, but due to my medical history this was only possible at excessively high contributions, which were effectively unaffordable. Even professionally, my earlier illness had far-reaching consequences. Access to my desired profession, one I had pursued since childhood, was denied despite 13 years having passed since my illness, no recurrence, and continuous confirmation of my health.”
Bianca, first diagnosed in 2005, now 35 years old
“My husband and I wanted to build a house. To secure the loan, I tried to take out a risk life insurance policy. Because of my leukemia, which was almost 12 years in the past, I was told that taking out such a policy was impossible.”
Miriam, first diagnosed in 2011, now 34 years old
“Although I have a doctorate, am very active in sport and lead an unrestricted life, I still have great difficulty securing income protection insurance. All my attempts to make anonymous preliminary enquiries with my diagnosis have been rejected.”
Stefan, first diagnosed in 2013, now 36 years old
These accounts clearly show that discrimination is systemic. It affects survivors’ financial security, career opportunities, and personal life long after successful treatment.
Since 2022, the German Foundation for Young Adults with Cancer has been campaigning actively for a Right to Be Forgotten. Our activities include public education, policy advocacy, research, and awareness-raising.
Key activities include:
- July 2025: Joint position (in German) with the DGHO on the draft law for implementing Directive (EU) 2023/2225.
- February 2025: Publication of official demands to the Federal Government (in German) for national implementation of the Right to Be Forgotten.
- September 2024: Joint press conference (in German) with the DGHO presenting the 22nd volume of the health policy series Right to Be Forgotten – Ending Discrimination Against Young Adults with Cancer.
- August 2024: Meeting with the German Insurance Association (GDV) to propose defining the start of the Right to Be Forgotten based on a five-year remission period.
- June 2024: Satellite symposium at the Berlin Health Policy Congress on the Right to Be Forgotten.
- 2023: Online survey collecting over 250 documented cases of discrimination.
- April–December 2022: Press releases (in German) highlighting the need for a Right to Be Forgotten and the situation in other EU countries.
The Foundation also maintains ongoing dialogue with political decision-makers and institutions, including members of the German Bundestag, the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, and international partners such as Ending Discrimination Against Cancer Survivors and Survivor Deutschland.
The Foundation calls for:
- A legally binding Right to Be Forgotten in Germany, allowing survivors to move on without discrimination after a defined remission period (we recommend five years).
- Broad legal coverage, ensuring protections apply across insurance, credit, employment, and adoption.
- Increased awareness and destigmatisation, so that young survivors are not treated as lifelong “risk patients.”
Every young adult who survives cancer should be able to live, work, and plan their future on equal terms with their peers.