German politicians who have survived cancer have spearheaded proposals to protect people long in remission from what they call rampant discrimination in areas including bank loans, adoption of children and insurance.

The policy known as “the right to be forgotten” (RTBF) is a central demand of a community estimated to number 5.5 million people in Germany: former cancer patients who have been given a clean bill of health by their doctors.

“Anyone who has medically overcome cancer must not be permanently disadvantaged in any area of life, be it in insurance, credit or employment law,” reads the proposed measure drawn up by the Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in Germany’s coalition government.

Once medically justified time limits – generally five years – have expired, “disclosure of a previously overcome cancer diagnosis can no longer be required”, the paper states.

One of the proposal’s initiators is Adis Ahmetović, the foreign policy spokesperson of the SPD’s parliamentary group, who went public with a lymphoma diagnosis at the age of 30 and is now 33. He has been tumour-free since October 2024 and could be medically considered cancer-free in 2029.

Ahmetović argues that beyond its ethical justification, the policy “would not cost the state a cent”.

He received support from his fellow Social Democrat Manuela Schwesig, who is a breast cancer survivor and the state premier of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on the Baltic coast.

Schwesig said Germany remained among EU outliers in creating high obstacles to a fresh start for former cancer patients.

“You have the right [in other countries] to make plans again as normal: to buy a house, to start a family,” she told the Funke media group. “Other European countries have long since sorted this out. We need a law for this; voluntary commitments are not enough.”

The SPD’s co-leader Lars Klingbeil, who is Germany’s finance minister, overcame tongue cancer, after learning of his illness in 2014. He has also thrown his weight behind the legislation.

“Anyone who has beaten cancer must be able to look ahead freely again, socially and economically,” he said.

Lars Klingbeil: ‘Anyone who has beaten cancer must be able to look ahead freely again.’ Photograph: Andreas Rentz/EPA

A petition calling for Germany to adopt RTBF reforms has drawn more than 55,000 signatures. It was initiated by Tobias Burggraf, whose daughter was diagnosed with cancer at the age of two and a half.

“After the healing, life begins – not the next hurdle,” Burggraf said, describing his goal. He said the SPD-sponsored proposal “covers the thrust of our petition”, calling it “correct and long overdue”.

The SPD parliamentary group cited survey data from a patients’ rights lobbying group showing that 77% of medically declared cancer survivors face what it called discrimination when taking out private insurance policies.

However, the German Insurance Association (GDV), an industry group, warned against setting fixed time limits on cancer patient status. It said private insurance providers of life and disability coverage must be able to assess patients’ future risk based on scientific review and medical advice to keep policies affordable for all.

“Even after successful treatment, relapses, long-term effects of the therapy or lasting health problems may persist,” said the association’s general manager, Jörg Asmussen. “There may also be an increased risk of other diseases, particularly other types of cancer.”

Susanne Weg-Remers, of the German Cancer Research Centre in the western city of Heidelberg, said that while some cancer survivors did develop tumours in other organs, the risk was not significantly higher than in the general population.

Given that one in two men and one in two to three women in Germany will develop a malignant tumour at some point in their lives, “if you were to use cancer as an argument,” she told Süddeutsche newspaper, “you wouldn’t be allowed to sell insurance policies or grant loans at all”.

Patient advocacy groups say automatic presumptions about future health are particularly unfair to younger survivors, whose prognoses are often good.

The German Foundation for Young Adults with Cancer said 16,500 people aged 18 to 39 were diagnosed with cancer in Germany each year, as well as 2,100 children, but medical advances meant more than 80% of the two groups could be healed.

The European Society for Medical Oncology, which provides cancer information and education, has advocated for a fair common standard for financial services access for cancer survivors across Europe based on a five-year minimum remission period. The society said the current patchwork of laws across the EU led to “unjustified discrimination”.

Only 11 EU member states had introduced specific legal measures protecting cancer survivors from financial discrimination, it said, leaving 16 without equivalent protections. “As a result, access to financial services continues to depend heavily on where a cancer survivor lives.”

An EU directive that Germany is still working to implement allows for restrictions for a period of up to 15 years after the end of treatment and offers narrow protections in the context of credit and insurance.

The UK has no binding RTBF laws. While Ireland passed such a law in 2026 focused on a level playing field for mortgage seekers, the UK has a largely voluntary framework.